


Alpha to the Omega

by Megane



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Advice, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Baby Chocobos, Begging, Best Friends, Biting, Body Worship, Bonding, Books, Boundaries, Bounty Hunting, Canon-Typical Violence, Claiming, Claiming Bites, Collars, Combat, Cravings, Crying, Dirty Talk, Dreams, Embarrassment, Falling In Love, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Friends to the Rescue, Happy Ending, Imprinting, Insatiable, Love Bites, M/M, Marathon Sex, Marking, Mates, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Medicine, Minor Original Character(s), Modulated or Specialised Voices, Nervousness, Nonbinary Character, Overstimulation, Pet Names, Protectiveness, Scent Marking, Scents & Smells, Slow Build, Some Exposition, Submission, Teasing, Type Shifting, Vocal influences, Voice Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-16 18:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9284198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane/pseuds/Megane
Summary: After catching up on some much needed sleep, Prompto heads into town to find his friends. While wandering around, he finds three things: awesome clothes, a baby chocobo, and an Alpha who wants to seduce him. After enjoying the first two, Ignis, Noctis, and Gladio come to save him from the third. Strangely, out of the trio, Prompto finds himself falling for Gladio, his close friend who was also an intimidating Alpha.





	1. Overstepped Boundaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been thinking a lot about this ask [this ask](https://sayallfiend.tumblr.com/post/155420726439/) that an anon sent to me. My answers towards this dynamic as a whole change continuously, I feel, but this is something I definitely stand by right now. 
> 
> As I was answering it, the idea of Gladio pressing up against Prompto and growling has been on my mind nonstop. So here you go. Hope you like my take on ABO/packmind culture (Culture? Sure let's go with that).
> 
> Here's hoping I finish this one relatively soon.

Prompto wandered through the boulevard on his own. The others had left him at the inn to catch up on some much needed sleep. When he woke up, he texted Ignis as to where they were and received a helpful MMS in return. The picture Ignis sent was of a store front with a dark brown sign that had golden lettering on it. The sign, if the picture was to be believed, was huge anyway. Prompto figured it would be easy enough to find.

Now out on the boulevard, he was enjoying the warmth and the sunlight. The air was slightly muggy, which wasn’t doing nice things with his hair, but overall, it was plenty enjoyable. He looked around at the different stores as he passed, humming softly to himself until he spotted an outdoor booth with a number of curious clothing folded up and on display.

Prompto slowed his steps, looking at the wares before coming to stand in front of the booth. He plucked through the numerous pieces of clothing before finding a blood red short sleeve shirt with fangs on the side, designed to "bite" the wearer on the hip. Prompto's eyes lit up. He curled the item towards himself and looked around for the booth owner.

     "Excuse me?" he called out, wiggling his fingers under the curled piece of fabric.

     "Oh yes, yes, sorry," came a youthful voice.

A hand curled over the edge of the booth to Prompto's left. A chuckle followed, and soon, an older woman stood up into view. She groaned as she came to her full height, dramatically placing her hand on her lower back. She shot Prompto a playful smile, and he laughed in return. The woman then moved to stand behind the booth proper.  She was probably in her early 60s. Her fine white-grey hair was braided and pulled over her left shoulder. She wore a sea blue scarf over her head and three layers of blue, white, and black clothing. But perhaps, most interestingly of all...

She held a baby chocobo tucked in her right arm. Prompto stared at the fat, fluffy chick. He felt a small purr building up in his throat. Some deep sense of love and adoration fell heavy on his shoulders. He tightened his hands in the shirt and forced himself to look at the woman.

     "H-how much for the shirt?" he asked, voice trembling slightly.

     "Oh, it's about... 14 Gil."

     "Can I have it? I mean—" He shook his head before trying again. "I'll take it."

     "Oh, sure thing." The woman gave a nice laugh.

     "And also," Prompto began more quietly, "can I... pet your chocobo chick, please?"

     "Sure can– Here." She leaned over the booth, cupping under the chocobo to hand it off to Prompto. "You can hold 'er if you want."

     "Oh my god..." Prompto whispered, exchanging the shirt for the chocobo, which he cradled close to his body.

     "Be careful. She's a pooper," the booth keeper warned, giving the shirt a snap.

     "That right?" Prompto asked, the chocobo specifically.

He tickled under the plump chick's beak, delighting in the contented thrill it gave in return. He kissed the crown of its head before stroking over its soft feathers once again. He couldn't stop himself from purring, so happy he was with the little one in his arms right now.

     "And what's your name?" he asked the merchant, not wanting to be rude.

     "Maila and the baby's Kilee."

     "Kilee," he repeated fondly before scritching under the chocobo's jaw again. "Hello~" He nuzzled the little chocobo with a smile. Lifting his head, he said, "I'm Prompto."

     "Prompto," Maila repeated. "Prompto, Prompto."

She checked the size and tag on the shirt before folding it, placing it inside a bag, and then setting the bag on the counter. Afterward, she  reached out to stroke down the chocobo's back. She spoke in a sweet voice to the bird, but the language was unfamiliar to Prompto. He heard his name, and the chocobo chick let out a sharp tweet in response. He just assumed that whatever was said had to be good. That noise was too cute and too lovely to mean anything bad.  Turning himself to the right, Prompto dug his hand into his right pocket before pulling out a number of bills.

     "14 Gil," he said to Maila, allowing her to divide the bills and hand back the change. He slipped the remainder into his pocket, wishing to hold onto Kilee for as long as he could.

He was given a brown paper bag with his shirt inside. He hooked the bag over his wrist and joined Maila off to the side of the booth where they talked about the town, her wares, and Kilee for a little while. When he did finally hand Kilee over, he stroked his curled fingers against the chocobo chick's face, cooing softly at it before he withdrew.

     "Bye, Kilee. Thanks, Maila. I'll come by with my friends later, if we're not too busy."

     "Please, please. I might have something in your tall friend's size, but I'll see when I meet him. Oh, and ah, Prompto."

     "Yeah?"

     Maila leaned closer, quirking her fingers for him to lean down as well. In a quieter voice, she said, "Be careful, dear, when you're walking around to find your friends. Your scent is..." She made a motion with her hand, wafting it between them. 

     Prompto blushed. He hadn't known she was a packmind as well. He nodded his head sheepishly and said, "I'll be careful."

     "Good." She took a step back and, in a louder voice, said, “Kilee looks happy enough to fall asleep now." She then stroked down the chocobo’s back again. 

     Prompto felt himself stand up straighter, his blue eyes glimmering excitedly. “I hope she does. A-anyway, I’ll see you soon.”

     “Bye, Prompto!” Maila raised her hand to wave the blond off. 

He waved back, gave one final look to the sleepy chocobo, and then turned to go on his way. When Prompto was a far enough distance, he let out a happy little sigh. He rubbed his hands against his cheeks, humming loudly to himself to try and wipe the flush off his face. He lowered his hands quickly after. He was sure that he looked weird to any passers-by. He was sighing and swaying and rubbing his face like a mad man, but he was happy, dammit! His day was starting off perfectly! When he managed to relax a little, he then remembered what Maila said. Ah– his scent. He should _really_  bring it down a notch or two then. Maila surprised him by being a packmind, so it probably wouldn't do him any favours to draw the attention of any other packminds in the area, especially any Alphas.

Prompto snorted in disbelief.  He highly doubted that some stray Alpha would want _him_ , but... better safe than sorry. He grabbed the hem of his blue shirt and began fanning it away from his body to try and diffuse his scent. It was probably helping his scent get more distance, but it was the best he could do. He closed his eyes, thinking about other things that wouldn’t get him as excited. 

He thought about fighting Magitek, daemons, and Malboros. Yuck. He stuck out his tongue and shook his head. He _hated_ malboros– though, who didn’t, really? He opened his eyes and looked up to see the large brown sign was just up ahead. Prompto pulled out his phone and shot Ignis a text.

_‘m outside !!!_

_We’ll see you soon._

Prompto smile and brought his hand back down to his side. As he approached the sign, he had a horrible feeling that he was being watched. No, not just watched. He felt like something was on the prowl somewhere nearby. Looking around would be too suspicious, he thought, but that oppresive, itchy feeling was getting worse with every step he took. Outside of that, he _swore_ he could hear a low, sharp whistle cut through the air. A particularly sharp whistle nade him jerk his head towards the right as his sense tipped in that direction as well. His vision was a bit hazy, but he managed to shake himself out of it pretty quickly. Upon doing so though, he noticed something in his peripheral vision. Everything screamed at him to look. Prompto glanced over his shoulder, and he noticed that someone with coffee golden-brown hair wasn't too far behind him. The person gave a wolifsh smile when their eyes connected. Prompto felt himself hunch forward to try and look smaller. Shit.

He was feeling _sooo_ confident about that whole "no Alpha would want him" thing a few seconds ago. And now, here he was, trailing one to where his friends were waiting. Well, at least he wouldn't be alone for much longer with this unknown Alpha.

He could see the massive set of stairs leading up to the store. Good. Almost there. Prompto faked a cough in a weak attempt to cover up his hastened pace. But as soon as he heard that whistle again, he realised it didn't matter. The sharp noise had a new inflection that made Prompto's stomach twist. His mind slowed down, and his body must have as well. A hand closed around his wrist. The Alpha had closed the gap between the two of them. Prompto wasn't sure how much he had slowed or how fast the Alpha had moved in order for this to happen.

     “Hey, hey now,” greeted the Alpha as he turned Prompto around.

Up close, Prompto realised that likening the Alpha's smile to a wolf's wasn't too far off. His fangs were of a moderate size, but they were sharp and properly intimidating. Prompto stared up at the Alpha; he was handsome but very confrontational. He was probably used to approaching others like this — how typical. And while he didn’t have a clear scent, there was no particular smell or bite — that Prompto could sense or see anyway — that hinted at him being mated. The Alpha stroked his thumb over Prompto’s pulse point on his wrist. Oh no. 

     “You’re a cutie. Got an Alpha, little Omega?”

Welp, there was the offer. Prompto sucked his teeth and drew in a long breath. It was better to play it cool for now. He kept his arm loose in the Alpha's hold. If this guy was a typical, by the books confrontational Alpha, then drawing his arm back could cause more problems than it was worth. He pulled out his phone and typed out a quick message in the group chat.  **4P4**. Just as he hit SEND, the Alpha ran his fingers under Prompto’s chin and tipped his head up. This guy really wasn't the type to be ignored it seemed. After a brief moment of eye contact, Prompto lowered his gaze, trying not to stare longer into those shining, golden eyes.

     “What do you say _we get to know each other_?” The Alpha’s voice was seductive, and his influenced words made Prompto’s head swim.

     "Uh, actually," Prompto started. "I... think I'll pass."

He felt his phone vibrate in his hand, but he couldn't focus on it right this very moment. Now was the time to create some distance between him and the other guy. He pulled back, and to his surprise, the  Alpha dropped the hand he had under Prompto’s chin. He still kept a loose hold on Prompto’s wrist, though. Eh, small progress. Prompto ducked his head to avoid further eye contact with the Alpha in front of him and to avoid the growing urge to look over his shoulder towards the store. But the Universe aligned, and the Six had mercy on him. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs behind him and sensed a collection of familiar auras drawing closer to him. Prompto sighed in relief. His posture changed damn near immediately.

     “May we help you?” Ignis asked, drawing up to Prompto’s right side. He adjusted his sleeves and subtly exuded his own Alphaic presence.

     An arm was thrown around Prompto’s neck; Noctis drew closer, tipping his head against Prompto’s. “You okay?”

     “Now that you guys are here,” Prompto said gently.

Noctis looked down to the stranger Alpha’s hand on Prompto’s wrist. He scowled and reached out to grab it. The Alpha's attention immediately on Noctis, who removed the offending hand away from his friend. He separated from Prompto's side to approach the stranger.

     “I think this is _yours_ ,” Noctis said, shoving the other Alpha’s hand back at him.

Prompto couldn't help but smile smugly at the stranger. Ignis was a warm presence at his right. Noctis was a stone cold force at his front. But then, he felt a _strong_ Alphaic presence behind him followed by an equally strong warning growl. Gladio pressed his front against Prompto’s back. Prompto swooned softly, though he totally wouldn't admit it later. He tipped his head down to hide his blushing cheeks, but that only seemed to help Gladio make a point. Gladio leaned forward to graze his lips against the nape of Prompto’s neck. Prompto swore he felt fangs, and his heart leapt up into his throat. He clenched his phone tight in his hands, silently hoping he wouldn’t accidentally break it.

     “This guy bothering you, Prom?”

     “Actually, he was just leaving,” Prompto said pointedly.

He was giving the Alpha an out. He didn't have to, especially when he already called in the calvary. It was easy for everyone to see what he was doing, but still, there was silence. The ball was in this unknown Alpha's court, and the small pack was waiting to see what he would do. Prompto was being a really nice guy about this, everything considered. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the stranger as if to convey the message  _Don’t make me regret this_. The Alpha looked around between the four before closing his eyes and raising his hands up in surrender. Coming to his senses in whatever way it mattered, he began walking away.

The relief was indescribable. While the others were watching the Alpha make his exit, Prompto was mostly focused on the incredible heat of Gladio's body against his back. He focused on the steady way Gladio breathed and realised that he was falling into a daze. But when the prowling Alpha was a suitable ways down the sidewalk, the thick air of tension dissipated. Gladio's hands clapped over Prompto's shoulders, and Prompto's stupor snapped instantly.

     “You alright, Prom?”

     “Y-yeah, I’m feeling better.”

     “He just started following you?” Noctis asked, voice concerned as he turned to face Prompto.

     Prompto rubbed the back of his neck. He could imagine the tempting glide of Gladio's teeth against his skin. He promptly ignored it. "I was warned about tht earlier. See,  I saw a baby chocobo and— Oh!” Right, the chocobo! And Maila!! “ _So_ , the baby chocobo's name is Kilee, and her owner’s name is Maila. I met them at Maila's booth, and she sells some _really_ neat shirts. They’re back that way.” He pointed back the way they came, and thankfully, that Alpha was nowhere in sight.

     “Hm… We can always stop by. We have the time,” Ignis suggested, placing a hand on his hip.

     Noctis pat Prompto on the arm. “Show us the way.”

Prompto then focused on Gladio, who was still watching the other Alpha walk away from their group. Gladio let out another low growl, and Prompto bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying to ignore how much he loved that sound. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and then put on a brave smile. 

     “Y-yeah, sure. It’s this way.”

He reached up to pat Gladio on the face, grinning when the other's expression switched instantly. After, Prompto immediately took the lead and headed back towards the source of his problems. Not that he could blame Kilee for his excitement. She was just so cute!! He was pretty sure that the others would love to see her as well.


	2. Physical Admiration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming slightly late in the day because I've had a busy, busy weekend! This work is officially part of a marathon that I'm doing, so if you want to be a part of that, you should check out my tumblr to learn more!
> 
> Anyway, I hope y'all like this addition. I've already planned all the way up to chapter 5 and three new (mostly contained) projects for y'all to enjoy!

As Prompto led the way back to Maila’s booth, he ended up turning around and walking backwards as he talked to the others. He pulled his shirt out of the bag, unfurled it, and held it against his body to show it off. He refrained from talking about Kilee too much; only because the others would see her soon anyway. But, he had to admit, a decent amount of effort went into keeping himself focused on talking about something else. When they finally approached the booth, Prompto spotted Maila sitting off to the side just as she was before with Kilee in her lap. The chocobo chick was resting, tweeting and chirping softly as her wings shuddered and tucked closer to her body. Oh god. She was so cute. Maila lifted up her head. She took notice of the small approaching pack and cradled Kilee in her arms.

     She spoke in a low, fond voice when Prompto was within range. “There he is…"

     Prompto grinned as he and the others stood in front of her. “Hey, Maila! These’re the guys.” He turned to his right and pointed towards Ignis. “That’s Iggy; this is Noct; and this–" Standing up straight, he clapped a hand on Gladio’s arm and motioned with the other. “And this is Gladdy.” 

Maila gave a slight wave as Prompto named off each of his friends, and then when it came to Gladio, she quietly stared up at him before giving a sharp whistle. 

     “… Well. I can’t say that I was expecting _him_.” She then looked to Prompto and smiled. “I’ll accept this challenge. Here–"

Prompto squatted down, extending out his arms as Maila offered Kilee out to him. He wrapped an arm under the plump chocobo and carefully turned Kilee onto her back. The action woke her up, it seemed. She sleeping curled her legs towards her body, curling her talons and blinking open her eyes. She looked up to Prompto and chirped softly in greeting.  Prompto purred louder as he splayed out his fingers and ran them through the soft downy feathers on the chocobo’s belly. Kilee gave a happy chocobo song in response, squirming happily in Prompto’s hold.

Prompto felt some deep satisfaction in seeing the Kilee so happy. He gave a little trill as he drew the chocobo chick closer, nuzzling his nose under her beak as he embraced her. As Prompto pulled away to look down at her, Noctis reached out to tickle under the baby chocobo's beak. Of course, she leaned into his hand.

     “She’s cute,” Noctis said.

     “She really is.”

     “I can see why you were all baby crazy earlier.”

     Prompto stammered and idly ran his curled fingers against Kilee’s wing. “I was _not_ baby crazy.”

     “You obviously couldn’t smell yourself,” Noctis muttered, flicking his gaze to Prompto. “We caught your scent at the top of the stairs.”

     Prompto immediately froze in place. _Seriously?_  he thought, gritting his teeth in embarrassment. He could feel a blush creeping up his neck and tried to force it down with willpower alone.  “That’s... so embarrassing.”

     “Just be glad we were nearby.” Noctis nudged Prompto gently. “No one’s gonna mess with our favourite Omega.”

     “It’d be easier if I wasn’t _broadcasting_ myself out in public like that. Geez… I’m glad it was only the one Alpha.”

     “Me too. Wouldn’t wanna get kicked out the city.”

The subtle threat made Prompto look over to Noctis with slightly widened eyes. Seconds later, he threw an arm over Noctis’ shoulder with a grin and planted a kiss on his cheek.

     “You’re the best!” 

     “Meh, I try.” Noctis gave a little smirk and shrugged up the shoulder opposite of Prompto.

Prompto laughed gently. They turned their attention over towards the others and went to join them. Noctis fingered through the different selection of shirts as he listened to the others talk. Prompto watched as Ignis studied a black and grey gradient checker patterened shirt. Beside him, Gladio was staring rather intently at the rest of the stock. He had a hand on his hip, and the other hand rested on the counter, pinning a stack of shirts under its palm. It was hard for Prompto to look away from Gladio, who nodded his head to what Maila was saying. Something made him smile, and Prompto realised — not for the first time — how handsome Gladio was.

     “— I have four sons,” Maila said to Ignis and Gladio. “They all live together back home. The oldest is a homemaker, and he and the youngest actually made most of these shirts together. I’m always traveling, so when I touch down for a while, I have them send their newest creations to me and mail them back most of the profits.” She clicked her tongue as she focused on a column of shirts at the far end of the booth. “I miss them; I do.”

     “Perhaps you can go visit them soon,” Ignis said as he pulled a shirt from a rack of clothing. 

     “I’m not-so-subtly seducing Prompto into taking over my booth for me, so I can take a vacation.” She glanced over to the Omega and then smiled at him.

     Prompto lifted up Kilee to his head, nuzzling her as he cradled her close. “You don’t have to convince me much.”

     “If we didn’t need to be somewhere, we’d take you up on that,” Gladio said, looking from Prompto back to Maila.

     “You’re sweet,” Maila said softly. “You all are.” She then waved a hand. “I’ll be home soon. I’ve already promised them.” She then pulled up a slate grey muscle shirt with white claw marks over the right shoulder. She opened it out and held it up to Gladio, tipping her head as she sized him up in it. “This should fit you…” she said slowly, words dragging as she squinted her eyes.

     “No harm in trying.” Gladio reached forward to take the shirt. “May I?”

     “Go ahead.” She let him take the shirt and fanned her hands at him.

Gladio dabbed both sides of his neck, checking for any sweat before turning the shirt upside down and rolling up the hem. He went without his jacket today and was wearing his black undershirt. It was easy for him to slip the new shirt over his head and tug it down over the length of his torso. Prompto watched _transfixed_. A part of him knew that he was staring, but it was hard for him to look away. Kilee cheeped idly, slowly turning in Prompto’s arms as she nestled against him. Prompto ducked his head for a second, running his fingers over the chick’s feathers before taking in Gladio’s form once again. Seeing Gladio in that muscle shirt– with all of his curves hugged in all the right ways– was strangely erotic. Prompto heard himself let out a little noise but hoped it went ignored by everyone else.

     “Feels good,” Gladio said as he smoothed his hands over his hips, adjusting his undershirt under the one he wore now. “How much?”

     “14 Gil,” Maila and Prompto said in unison. Maila looked over to Prompto and laughed, a deep and rolling noise. “Look! He buys one shirt, and he already knows the prices.”

     “It was a guess!” Prompto laughed, turning himself to lean against the booth. 

Kilee made a sleepy little noise, wings shuddering before she went still again. Prompto stroked over her side, and Gladio nodded his head.

     “I’ll take it. And I’ll leave the blond with you,” he said, tipping his head over towards Prompto as he reached into his pocket to pull out some money.

     “Aww, c’mon. You know you’d miss having me around.” Prompto leaned towards Gladio; his voice was still trembling with a soft purr.

     “Yeah, maybe.” Gladio grinned, and he handed over 20 Gil to Maila, motioning for her to take it all. “Just wouldn’t be the same without you.”

     “Ah…”

Prompto looked away and touched his chin gently against the top of Kilee's head, looking away from Gladio towards the rest of the boulevard. Sure, Gladio might’ve said that to the others as well, but hearing it made Prompto feel…… He gave a little embarrassed groan and completely buried his face against Kilee, who woke slightly and chirped at him. Prompto rubbed his face against her belly and pressed numerous kisses there.

     “Sorry, Kilee,” he said, voice muffled in her feathers.

     “Everything alright?” Noctis asked, raising a brow at Prompto.

     “‘m fine. Just thinking about stuff.”

     “That’s dangerous,” Noctis teased as he knocked his partially curled fist against Prompto’s head.

     Prompto lifted his head, stuck out his tongue, and tipped his head the opposite way it was tapped. “You think I’d learn by now,” he said with a little laugh.

     Noctis merely hummed, watching Prompto for a while before stepping closer to the others and wedging himself in between. “I like that,” he said to Ignis, nodding his head in approval. And then glancing over, Noctis said, "Looking good, Gladdy.” He then reached forward, stroking his fingers over the selection of folded shirts. “Think you’ve got anything for me?”

     Maila placed her hands on the booth, bracing her weight down as she smirked. “What’s your style, kid?”

Prompto watched the interaction for a little longer before quietly tracing the lines of Gladio’s muscles in the shirt. He knew he was blushing, and so he turned himself away. Hopefully, the blush would pass by the time it was ready to leave. Otherwise, he’d have to blame it on being sunburnt and not on the fact that he couldn’t stop himself from admiring Gladio’s body.

Ah… so embarrassing…


	3. Falling… Slowly…

The next day was nice. The Sun shown through the curtains and was warm against Prompto’s back. Prompto was sitting at the end of the bed. His left leg was bent in front of him and tucked under his right leg, which hung over the side of the bed. He kicked his leg idly back and forth. Noctis was laying on his side, turned towards the wall. He was scrolling through his phone and reading different posts on the local online message board. Gladio and Ignis were talking, putting together a plan on attack of how to take on the rest of their day. Prompto watched silently, both of his hands settled on his left leg. If he had a tail, he was sure that it would be swaying behind him, lazily pawing at the air, pausing only to twitch at the end here and there. Gladio was sitting with his back towards Prompto; Ignis was standing in front of Gladio, leaning against the wall. He crossed his arms; the soft grey shirt pulled over his toned arms. Two very handsome Alphas– Prompto appreciated them both.

But…

He tipped his head down, realising belatedly that he was purring quietly to himself. He closed his eyes and shook his head. _Get it together_ , he mentally chastised. Ignis pushed away from the wall and smoothed his hands down his back, tucking his shirt into his trousers before rolling his shoulders forward. He looked over towards Prompto and Noctis.

     “I’m heading to the store. Do you need something?”

     “General store or what?” Noctis asked from his unmoving position on the bed.

     “PM.”

     “Ah, I’m fine.”

     “I need a refill of my prescription,” Prompto said, pointing to Ignis with his left hand and scratching his face with his right.

     “Do you have your paperwork on you?”

     “Yeah, it’s… Uh.”

Prompto twisted left and right, looking around for his normal clothes. He spotted one of his trouser legs under the bed, leaned down to grab at it, and nearly fell over in the process. After pulling his pants up, he felt blindly through the pockets, pulled out a folded square, and extended it out to Ignis. Ignis crossed the room to take it, unfolding it with careful hands and examining the printed words with a critical gaze. A brief nod. Ignis folded the paper back and slipped it into his breast pocket.

     “I’ll make sure this gets into the proper hands. Gladio?”

     “Nah, I’m fine,” Gladio replied, swiping a thumb across the tip of his nose. “Just came out of a rut, so I should be fine.”

     “Oh sweet Astrals,” Prompto mumbled quickly to himself in a single breath as he placed his hands on his thighs and slowly shaking his head.

Prompto hadn’t even noticed this time around. Gladio’s ruts were usually fairly obvious as his behaviours became a little sharper around the edges. He was quieter, impatient, a little growly and snippy– even when he tried his best not to be. When he found himself in a particularly aggressive headspace, he growled more instead of talked, and that was just something the others had gotten used to. _But_. His most recent rut had gone _completely_ unnoticed with all their recent activity and running around. Yeah, sure, Gladio was still a little growly, a little more antsy to fight, but that energy was easily redirected. It just blended in with everything they were doing.

Bah! Prompto was a little surprised by the news, but with the way he was feeling, perhaps that was for the best that he didn’t realise until now. Gods only know what his instincts would have done with that information… He drew in a breath and looked up to see Ignis heading towards the door.

     “I’ll be back in a little then,” Ignis said.

     “Bring back food!” Prompto mock-yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth.

     “We could just go out,” Noctis offered.

     In response to that, Prompto then said, “We’ll bring back food if we go out.”

     Ignis laughed. “See that you do.”

     Prompto lowered his hands to his thighs, letting them slap against his legs. “Alright. Shower time.” He pushed up to his feet and padded towards the bathroom. Just as he crossed in front of Gladio—

     “Hey.” Gladio reached up and loosely took Prompto around the wrist.

     Prompto held his breath for only a second before looking to Gladio. “Hm?”

     “You and me. We’re gonna start working out again when we’re outta here.”

     “Sure thing.” Prompto felt his pulse quicken. Damn, he hoped Gladio didn’t notice. “I just hope you’re ready to get lapped on our next run.”

     “Ooh.” Gladio smirked, left brow cocking up as he leaned forward. His hand slipped down a bit; his pinky grazed the heel of Prompto’s palm. His fingers felt hot. There was the briefest glint to Gladio’s amber eyes. “Is that right?”

     Prompto grinned, grateful to every higher power that it was an automatic reaction, and nodded his head. “You bet.”

     “Alright then. Tomorrow morning, show me your stuff.”

With that, Gladio leaned back to sit upright on the bed. He lowered his hand away from Prompto’s and let his arm rest against his thigh. Prompto felt the loss of heat like a lingering burn against his skin. He noticed the way Gladio sized him up. There was nothing sexual or predatory in the look. A challenge, however playful, had been issued, and Gladio was merely appraising his challenger. Prompto felt a shudder creep up his spine, and it was all he could do to keep himself from stumbling into the bathroom like a drunken fool.

He closed the bathroom door behind him, sighing when he was finally alone. Going through the usual routine put his mind at ease. When he finally stepped into the shower, he knew that this was good for him. The hot water pelted against his skin; the heat was just a tad uncomfortable, but he curled his fingers against the tile and willed himself to deal with it. He leaned his head back, allowing the spray to hit his face. He held his breath; his eyelids fluttered. He ducked his head forward again and gave a hard shake. Wet, blond hair sent water everywhere. Prompto reached a hand up and smoothed it over his face, sighing hard through his nose against his palm.

His mind replayed that appraising look Gladio gave him. Just a slow downward look before casting his gaze down at his own hand. The glint made Gladio’s eyes look aetheral; if they shone like an Alpha’s normally would, Prompto could only imagine how breathtaking that would be. He sighed softly as he thought about how expressive Gladio’s eyes were, how _beautiful_ they were. He couldn’t think of a time when he saw anyone– human or packmind– with amber coloured eyes. Were amber eyes a common trait in the Amicitia family line, or was Gladio sporting a rare recessive? Prompto pushed himself away from the wall, finally standing upright and letting the water spray the front of his body. He reached up with both hands and combed his fingers through his hair before giving it a hard squeeze to wring out the water. His mind slowly, unceremoniously trailed away from the thought of Gladio’s eyes, leaving him to bask in solitude. 

Ah, he should probably shower properly before he used up all the hot water. 

 

     “Someone hand me my bag,” Prompto said loudly. He had a towel tied tight around his waist and one thrown over his head; the bathroom door was cracked open and letting out the steam.

     There was shuffling on the other side, and Noctis said, “I’m gonna chuck it at the door.”

     “Don’t do that.”

     “Better stand in the door then~” Noctis replied in a singsong, his voice a bit closer now.

     “Noct, _please_. Don’t–“ Prompto pushed the towel away from his face and pulled open the door completely. He paused when he saw Gladio standing in front of the bathroom door, smirking with the clothes bag in his right hand. “Oh."

     “What if _I_ threw it then?”

     “I’d… prefer if you didn’t,” Prompto replied in a quiet voice, taking the bag from Gladio as it was handed off to him.

They held each other’s gaze easily. Prompto swore that there was a moment of… something between them. Or maybe his mind was hoping for too much that it was just leaping at any possibilty. Even still, he couldn’t deny that Gladio definitely had some kind of ‘look’ in his eyes. It was something subtle but profound. Amber eyes traced over the top half of Prompto’s body, burning that indescribable _something_ further into Prompto’s mind. That look was only there for a heartbeat. Prompto tightened his hand against the bag, taking in small, quiet breaths that barely lifted his chest. But then, Gladio was merciful and silently turned away. Whatever he saw or felt went unspoken. Prompto immediately did the same. He held his breath as he spun around and hurriedly reentered the bathroom to change.

After he was finally dried off and changed into fresh clothes, Prompto stepped back out into the room. He looked to see that Noctis and Gladio were standing between the beds. Noctis turned his phone around and handed it over to Gladio, who stared at the screen and then gave a shrug.

     “Definite six outta ten for me.”

     Noctis shook his head. “You have no taste.”

     Gladio smirked and shrugged up both shoulders. “Well, I can’t tell from a _picture_.”

     “I’m texting Iggy; we’re making this,” Noctis drew back his phone, preparing for a text. Midway through his actions, he looked over to see Prompto and pointed to the blond. “Group effort.”

     Prompto raised a hand about shoulder high. “I’m in for… whatever we’re doing.”

     “Noct was showing me something called the… 'Mega Behemoth Patty' or something.”

     Noctis raised his brows as his thumbs worked over the screen. “It’s _awesome_.”

     “S’just a bunch of meat– and I like meat as much as anyone else, but y’gotta have the right flavourings. Y’gotta make it a masterpiece of ingredients. It can’t just be a hodge-podge of meat and _whatever_ and call it a meal.”

     Noctis paused, looking to Gladio and then looking to Prompto with a flat gaze. “… Is Cup Noodles lecturing me?”

     “Alright, _look_.” Gladio wrapped an arm around Noctis’ neck; though, Noctis managed to huff out his laughter before getting manhandled. 

Prompto watched from beside Ignis and Gladio’s bed (or Ignis and… whoever’s bed. It really was a toss up most of the time). He crossed his arms in front of himself, holding the wrist of his right arm with his left hand. The strap of his clothes bag dangled from his fingers. The door to the inn room opened, and Ignis wandered in. He halted upon the sight of Noctis and Gladio in the beginning stages of play fighting before looking around for Prompto— who he found standing off to his right. Prompto lifted his hands every so slightly and gave a little wave of his fingers.

     Ignis switched a bag from his left hand to his right and handed it over to Prompto. “For you.”

     “Thanks, Iggy.” Prompto opened up the bag and pulled out the blue-green bottle within. The bottle was a bit bigger than normal, but that was really the only thing worth noting. He unscrewed the cap as Ignis turned away from him.

     “Come help arrange the supplies if any of you feel so inclined.”

     “I’ll stay here and straighten up,” Prompto offered instead. He wasn’t really in the mood to lift anything heavy and shift it around some.

     Noctis raised up a hand, using the other to smooth down his disheveled locks when Gladio finally let him go. “Ditto.”

     Gladio huffed through his nose. “Guess you and I are on sorting duty, Ignis.”

     Ignis nodded and then shifted his weight to his right leg. He placed his left hand on his hip before turning his right hand, fanning his fingers out rather elegantly. “And what should we do for dinner?”

     “Hm. I’m up for noodles or hamburgers. Hamburgers sound really good right now,” Prompto said as he pulled out one of his pills and set it on his tongue.

     Gladio shrugged up a shoulder. “Kind of in the mood for chicken or pasta.”

     Noctis squinted at Prompto. “Anything’s cool with me– it’s weird you can take pills like that.”

Prompto stared at Noctis with his tongue curled up against the roof of his mouth, looking a little curious at first, eyes rounded and innocent looking. Upon registering what Noctis had said, Prompto shrugged. He pocketed his medicine shortly after. Gladio and Ignis looked to each other, speaking silently with looks and gestures. Then, Gladio reached over to ruffle Noctis’ hair. As he passed, he reached out to give Prompto’s shoulder a squeeze.

     “Come down when you’re finished,” Gladio said. "We’ll check out and hit the town for a little while.” 

     “We’ll be there,” Prompto assured, trying to ignore the phantom warmth Gladio left on his shoulder.

Rolling his arm, Prompto moved closer to the beds to help straighten things up. He and Noctis threw away any of their trash, trying to make things easier for the staff when they came around to clean up. They set the four clothes bags on the nightstand table and made sure that their chargers, clothes, and personal effects were tucked away in their proper bags. After cleaning up, Prompto and Noctis lingered for a bit, scanning the room with their eyes before finally exiting. They headed down the stairs, and Noctis peeled off to check them out of their room. Prompto knocked his friend on the arm as a silent encouragement. Noctis gave little smile before focusing on the concierge. 

Prompto reached forward to push open the entrance doors. The air was warm, slightly humid, and the sunlight felt amazing as he made his way down the stairs to the ground level. He blinked slowly when he felt the Sun against the side of his face. He was absolutely content with weather like this. If he had to stay in a place like this, he wouldn’t complain. It was freaking beautiful. He walked over to the Regalia, leaning over the driver-side back passenger door to put the clothes bags down in the backseat. Now that his arms were freed, Prompto waved to the others as he side stepped away.

     “Be back in a bit!”

     “Where ya headed?” Gladio asked as he carefully arranged the supplies in the trunk.

     “Gonna go say good-bye to Maila and Kilee.”

     “Send our best,” Ignis called after Prompto, who gave a thumbs up and hurried down the street.

Prompto was surprised by how close he had gotten to Maila and Kilee and how a part of him was going to miss them as they went their separate ways. Midway through his jog, Prompto diverted towards one of the many stores lining the boulevard. He needed to stop and get something first.

 

     “Well, well, look who made it,” Maila greeted as she placed her hands on her hips.

Prompto approached the booth with his hands behind his back. He looked down to the ground to see Kilee waddling around the booth, cheeping softly to herself. He smiled softly and then looked up to Maila. Prompto brought his hands in front of his person and presented Maila with a gift wrapped box. 

     Maila raised her brows as she took the box from Prompto. “What is this?” she asked in a soft, almost singsong voice.

Prompto leaned down over the booth, setting his elbows between the columns of shirts. He rested his chin on the heels of his hands, curling his fingers against his cheeks. He shrugged up both shoulders and hummed out an 'I dunno' to her. Maila smirked as she unwrapped the box.

     “Of course you… know… Oh.” She placed her hands down to either side of her gift, staring at the blue cloth within. “Prompto, this is sweet.”

     “I wasn’t sure what to give you, so I guessed.” He shifted his fingers against his cheeks as he offered up a bashful smile. "I hope you like it…”

     Maila pulled out a monochrome acrylic scarf; it was light blue that faded into a dark blue near the middle before becoming deep blue-black right at the ends. She ran her thumbs over it. “I do. I d– oh, and what’s this?” She pulled a smaller, light blue scarf that had gotten caught up with hers.

     Prompto smiled and tipped his head towards the chocobo walking closer to him. “That’s for Kilee.”

Maila grinned and reached out to tweak Prompto’s nose. “So sweet. Kilee–" Maila turned and called to the chocobo in that pretty, foreign language they shared. The chocobo hurried back to her owner, letting out a curious song when she arrived. Prompto watched as Maila ducked down to wrap the smaller scarf around Kilee’s neck. After a few moments, Kilee toddled away and came towards Prompto. He bent down to pick her up, and the chocobo chick leaned her head against his neck. 

     Maila stood up and hooked her new scarf around her neck. She stroked over it adoringly before lowering her hands down. “So, what can I do for you, Promki?” 

_Promki._ Prompto tilted his head at the nickname and ran his tongue over the back of his top row of teeth as he smiled. He then said, 

     “Mmn, nothing much. We’re leaving today. Gonna head on with our adventure.”

     “So soon?” Maila’s brows furrowed, even as she gave a slight smile. “Aah, and we were getting along so well.”

     “I know. The others’re prepping the car, but they said bye too.” He pet over Kilee’s back. “But we’ll be around.”

     “We’ll all 'be around.'” Maila then reached forward to give Prompto a pinch on the cheek. She gave him a loving farewell in her mother tongue before repeating herself in their common language, “Take care of yourself, Promki.”

     “Yes, ma’am.” He dipped his head to kiss Kilee at the top of her head, purring down at her. “Bye, Kilee.”

Kilee trilled up at him and bumped her head against his jaw to nuzzle him goodbye. Prompto gave a little whine. Not fair– he wished he could take her with them, but that just wouldn’t be good. He set Kilee down. She shook herself bodily; the scarf stood out beautifully against her feathers. He felt his lips twitch up in a smile, but then, with a lift of his head and a wave of his hand, he headed back down the road to the Regalia.

When he made it to the car, the others were making the finishing touches. Noctis had changed into new clothes. Now that the trunk was closed, he was sitting on the top of the seats, gesturing his right hand out towards the distance. Gladio was leaning over the passenger door and staring up at Noctis as he talked. Gladio’s eyes were squinted as the light was shining directly in his face. Prompto slowed his steps as he approached, and when Gladio looked over to him, he automatically grinned in response. 

     “Done and done,” Prompto said when he approached.

     “Then let’s hit the road,” Noctis said, bringing his hand down into his lap.

Prompto nodded his head, and he and Gladio piled into the car. As far as dinner went, they headed to a fusion restaurant, which served everything they could have wanted– except hamburgers. Because the food the restaurant did have was _so_ delicious, Prompto decided that he could overlook them not having hamburgers. Afterward, they explored the city for a little longer. But the day drew on, and soon, it was time to go. When they finally gathered into the car and headed out of town, Prompto leaned back in his seat, pulled out his phone, and held it over his head as he checked the time. 3:06PM. He licked his lips and brought his phone down over his stomach. He closed his eyes, enjoying the wind through his hair, the sunlight against his face. He could hear the others talking, but after a while, their voices drifted into nothingness as Prompto fell asleep.

When he awoke, they had made it to a new campgrounds. He rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers, huffing softly before stepping out of the car to help set up camp. The day passed without much note. They fell into their usual routines, and Prompto spent a lot of the afternoon stretched out in the tent, basking in the sunlight as the hours passed.


	4. Guidance through a Realisation

At about 6AM, Prompto was woken up by two things. One was an uncomfortable twist of his stomach; the other was a rough shake against his shoulder. He knit his brows together before letting out a soft, discontent noise. He nuzzled his face against his freckled arms, instinctually curling up before blinking open his eyes. He looked up to see Gladio kneeling beside him and smirking down at him. One hand rested on Gladio’s propped up leg; the other hand touched against Prompto’s shoulder.

     “Up and at ‘em, Prompto. It’s runnin’ time.”

     “Dammit.” Prompto let his head fall back against his arm. He sighed and then nodded his head. “Alright, I’m up. Gimme a second.”

Gladio drew his hand away, and Prompto curled up again. He rolled his shoulders forward, tensed his thighs, and curled his toes, stretching his body in his balled up position. When he finally stretched out, he heard Gladio exiting out of the tent. Prompto sleepily stared at Gladio’s back, watching for a few moments before scrambling for his clothes bag and changing into his workout outfit. He tugged on an oversized tank top and harem sweats. He sighed tiredly and flopped over to his side, pulling himself closer to his socks. He rolled onto his back, brought up one leg, and untucked his socks. One sock went over one foot, and then he kicked his other leg up to cover the other foot. Now that both feet were properly dressed, Prompto stared blankly up at the ceiling on his back with his legs curled in the air. He felt the gears inside of his mind slowly turning. He was about to go exercising. Alone. With Gladio.

Oh, crap baskets…

Before Gladio came back and accused him of lollygagging, which he kind of was, Prompto quickly moved closer towards his boots. He pulled them on, tied them up quick, and exited the tent as quietly as he could. Gladio was already going through his warm-ups. His right arm was behind his head with his left arm cupping his elbow.

     “Make sure to stretch first. We’re gonna be out for a while.”

     Prompto shook his head slowly and let out a quiet sigh. “Sir, yes, sir,” he said in a tired voice.

The stretches helped Prompto’s mind and body wake up. All the while, that uncomfortable tension in Prompto’s stomach began to shift and grow. He made a face. Gladio teased him for being out of practice, but Prompto knew that it wasn’t that. When it was finally time for them to head out on their jog, they traveled down away from the campsite into a massive plain. Their pace was pretty leisurely. As they ran forward, they intersected with a river. They turned left and followed along the water, which lead them down to a recessed lake. They curved around the lake and ran up the incline from the plains to the street. Prompto huffed when they touched down on concrete. They were both still pacing themselves, but Prompto slowed his steps even further. The discomfort grew in a way that was constricting. He drew in a breath through his teeth and steadily let it out through his nose. Gladio glanced over his shoulder towards the blond.

     “And here I thought you were going to lap me,” he teased.

     Prompto laughed. “Can’t go all out just yet.”

Gladio smiled. Prompto noticed that his teeth were a little sharper. Ah, and there was that glint in his eye. Gladio was in his element. Damn, he was handsome.

     “Smart.”

Gladio looked forward again, and Prompto chewed the inside of his cheek. This was ridiculous. He just couldn’t spend the rest of his life admiring Gladio from afar, especially when they were up close and alone like this. Though, Prompto did spend some years just quietly preparing himself to be Noctis’ friend. He closed his eyes and groaned, picking up his pace until he was even with Gladio. Gods, he was pathetic…

They jogged abreast down the road. About a mile down, Gladio touched his left foot down to the concrete and pivoted, doing a smooth about face back the way they came. Prompto followed a beat later, huffing out a breath and tensing his fists. He wondered if this was a lap or just a halfway point as they doubled back and headed towards the lake. Instead of going straight back, they took a left and went around the other side of the lake. Prompto looked over to the water and marveled at its size. Compared to other lakes they had seen so far, this one wasn’t nearly as large. The lake dwindled and trailed out into the river again as the two males ran along it. When the river thinned out towards the middle, Gladio hopped over it to the other side. Prompto followed after, and then they continued their cycle once again. Prompto quickly found the rhythm. He managed to keep in front of Gladio, leading the Alpha past the river and the lake, down the street, and back again.

When his hair started to fall in front of his face, Prompto pulled his sweatband from out of his pocket. Usually, he kept it looped around his wrist, but he forgot to do that this morning. Prompto let out controlled huffs of breath as he pulled his sweatband over his head, around his neck, and then pushed it back over his forehead. Sweat slicked blond hair was pushed back out of the way; Prompto rubbed his eyes tiredly and resisted the urge to check the time on his phone. Though, he wasn’t entirely sure he even brought it with him. He looked up to his left when Gladio came up next to him. At the mile marker, the two stuck out their left foot and pivoted, heading back down the road towards the lake.

     “Pretty good,” Gladio complimented as they made their careful descent down into the plains. “You know, you’ve been getting better at this since we started.”

Prompto looked up to Gladio, and his heart melted at the proud smile Gladio gave him. Now that they were jogging side by side with each other, Prompto was acutely aware of Gladio’s Alpha scent. And gods, Prompto felt as though he could melt…

     “Heh, maybe you’re just rubbing off on me,” he said with a weak smile. But as soon as he finished speaking, the smile disappeared, and Prompto got really, _really_ quiet.

     Unaware, Gladio merely laughed and responded with, “Maybe I am."

The tension Prompto had spent so much time ignoring flared up in a quick and powerful way. It wasn’t painful, and Prompto was suddenly, undoubtedly aware of what this was hinting towards. So, Prompto reacted to all this stimuli in a perfectly reasonable, adult way. He lowered his head, pressed his right foot against the ground

and _bolted_.

     “P- Prompto!” Gladio shouted behind him.

Prompto was _not_ stopping now.

     “Great exercise–!” he shouted over his shoulder instead, running half blind towards the campsite.

He barely registered jumping over the river. He might have actually just run over the water without taking a single pause. He opened his eyes as he came up the incline towards the campsite. When everything came into view, he saw Ignis reclining in one of the chairs, basking in the Sun with his eyes closed, his hands folded in his lap, and his shirt partially unbuttoned. He looked so relaxed. Lucky _him!_ Prompto dove straight for the tent where he saw Noctis who still asleep. How unfortunate for him. Prompto went straight for his friend and tucked himself against the sleeping prince. Noctis startled when he felt someone suddenly near him. Prompto couldn’t see the drowsy eyed glare leveled his way, but he could imagine that it was there.

     “Noct,” Prompto began with a soft voice. “I might be in trouble.”

     Noctis groaned and let his head come back down onto his arm. He had to make room with Prompto nestled up against him. “You’re burning up,” he mumbled. “And _sweaty_ …” He sighed through his nose and finally asked, “What happened…?”

     “It’s Gladio. I think I might…” Prompto licked his lips with the tip of his tongue, debating on how he should continue this. In the end, he let out a soft whine and curled up closer to Noctis, much to the prince’s current, groggy dismay. “Never mind. Just go back to sleep.”

Prompto felt Noctis shift bodily. The prince brought up one hand and then clapped it down on top of Prompto’s head, hitting himself in the lip with his thumb in the process but not particularly caring. Prompto jerked with the suddenness of the attack. He huffed out an “Ow…” in response.

     “If you wake me up for half a conversation again… I’m killing you,” Noctis threatened, his voice dragging with his fatigue.

     “I know.”

     “Maybe Ignis’ll serve you up and we’ll eat you too.”

Now, Prompto knew that this was just sleepy nonsense on Noctis’ part, but the fact that the prince had said it anyway made Prompto’s mind travel in a completely different direction. The image of him laying prostrate came to his mind; he could practically feel Gladio’s tongue against his ass, teeth grazing ever so gently against his taint and—

Prompto tensed up and blushed from shoulders to forehead. Noctis laid like a statue against his form, relaxing ever so slightly as he asked,

     “Now, here’s a wild guess, but… you’re thinking about Gladio, aren’t you?”

Prompto hesitated before deciding to just go with the honest truth. He already knew he was a blushing mess anyway. 

     “Yeah…?” he replied hesitantly, his voice lifting with a little whine at the end.

     Noctis groaned. “Oh my god, you’re hopeless,” he said in a breath. He lowered his hand down and wrapped his arm around Prompto’s waist, giving him a squeeze. “Alright, alright… We’ll deal with this _later_.”

     Prompto gave a small smile from his position. He uncurled enough to make himself comfortable against the other male. “Thanks, Noct.”

     “Sleep now, night night.”

     “Heh. Night…”

There was no real reason for Prompto to fall asleep as well, but if he didn’t, he would have merely served as a teddy bear because there was no way Noctis was letting him go easily. Admittedly though, the exercise did make him fairly tired. He wasn’t sure how long he and Gladio had been at it. Over an hour if he really had to guess, but he’d have to ask Gladio about it later.

When he finally woke up, Prompto grabbed his clothes and toiletries before heading down to the river to go wash up. He was glad for the time alone. He used it to try and get his head on straight, maybe calm himself down a little bit. He realised he was still a bit warm, even after washing up, but paid no mind to it. Maybe his hormones were still running a little wild from his morning adventure. Maybe it was just because he was out in the sun without any sunblock.

Actually, that would make a lot of sense.

When he joined Noctis for a late breakfast, Prompto pointedly tried to ignore Gladio sitting across from him. Thankfully, Gladio was reading a thick book; the cover was blood red with black marbling. From what Prompto could tell, Gladio was halfway through it as well. He raised his brows slightly. Impressive. He wondered what the book was about. He didn’t want to ask; he didn’t think it was a good enough question to bother Gladio with. He was thankful went the day continued on as normal. Ignis and Noctis went out in the Regalia to search for any towns nearby. Gladio went to search and secure the perimeter. Prompto practiced shooting, weapon conjuring, and other little things that he thought would help in battle. Okay, things he thought were _cool_ that would, maybe, help in battle.

By the time nighttime fell, Prompto didn’t feel as if he did much with his day, but he wasn’t too stressed about it either. Everything considered, he was having a nice day. It was… kind of peaceful in its own way. Save the incident this morning and the fact that he was still running a bit hotter than usual, he was feeling pretty alright. Ignis cooked a late dinner. He batted around different recipes for about an hour before finally making a decision and settling for a modified curry in the end.

After eating and washing his dish, Prompto sat in his chair and stared up at the sky. It was one of those deep, dark, special kind of nights where the depth of infinity stood out particularly well. There were no clouds in the sky. The moon was rich and partially full just behind him. Prompto cradled his phone between his hands, occasionally idly shifting it. The stars were tiny pinpricks against the inky sky. To Prompto, they were cute and delicate. He felt at peace just looking at them.

     “Hey, Prom,” Noctis called out to him. Prompto turned his head to the right and saw his friend standing with a fishing pole resting against his shoulder. “Ya comin’?”

     “Oh… Yeah.”

     “There’s no need to fish, Noctis,” Ignis assured. “We’ve enough food for the time being.”

     “Just feel like relaxing,” Noctis said, smiling over his shoulder to Ignis. “Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

     Ignis laughed, a small, low noise. “Then, by all means…”

Noctis then looked over to Prompto and nodded his head towards the lake. Prompto stood up and lead the way down into the plains and to the lake. On a night as dark as this one, the lake seemed more like a dark hole in the ground, and the moon shone down directly on top of it. Noctis handed over his fishing pole to Prompto, who took it, and then bent down to undo his boots. He pulled off his socks, rolled them together, and then shoved them inside one of his boots. He took his fishing pole back and walked to the edge of the lake. Prompto came up beside his friend, smiling as Noctis dipped his toe into the water and shuddered at the cold.

Prompto slipped down into a sitting position, and Noctis joined him a few seconds later. Noctis checked over his fishing pole, raising it up into the light to make sure the line and reel were working properly. Then, without baiting his hook, he cast his line out into the nighttime water. For Noctis, that was enough it seemed, and so it was for Prompto. 

     Noctis stuck his right leg into the water and tapped his left foot against that knee. He relaxed visibly and fixed his gaze out towards the water. “So tell me what’s up,” he said finally. His voice was low and comforting. There was no influence that Prompto could pick up, but there was a very Beta lull behind Noctis’ words.

     “It’s Gladio,” Prompto began, repeating what he said earlier. “… I think I imprinted on him.”

     “Really.” It wasn’t a question; it wasn’t sarcastic.

     Prompto nodded his head anyway. “I think I’m in love with him, Noct,” he whispered, afraid to hear himself say it. “Usually, when an Omega imprints, it’s in heat, but I’ve been feeling this way… I dunno… for a while?”

     “You ever think about telling him?”

     “Kinda? Not really…?”

     “Hm. It’d be pretty scary.”

     “It _is_ ,” Prompto assured.

     Noctis sighed and rubbed his thumb against his reel. He went silent for a time, and Prompto waited as Noctis collected his thoughts. “It’s always interested me, seeing other packminds working ‘normally.’” He brought up his right hand to make air quotes. "You have heats. Iggy and Gladio both fall into ruts. I mean… your heats are off ‘cuz of that medicine.”

     “The suppressants, yeah…” Prompto brought his hands together, rubbing one thumb over the other idly.

     “But you have your whines and your eyes _sparkle_ , and it’s… I wanna know what that’s like. My haze isn’t… permanent, I guess, but a lot of times, it feels like it. I can still tell when any of you tilt or when _I’m_ about to shift– then I _really_ feel it. But somehow… being stuck like this doesn’t feel _nearly_ as scary as what you’re going through.” Noctis tilted his head down slightly. He didn’t sound sad, just contemplative. “Maybe because it’s been so long; maybe because I don’t think I’ll ever really understand fully switching between one or the other, but you’ve gotta go through the whole song and dance. And from what I heard, heats are the _pits_."

     Prompto gave a weak smile and then shrugged up his right shoulder. “It kinda sucks, yeah.”

     “‘Kinda sucks,’” Noctis repeated as he lifted his head. He scoffed and turned his head away. “If I felt like I was on fire and my skeleton was crawling out, I’d’ve called it quits.”

     Prompto felt himself grinning. “Okay, it’s not _that_ bad for me.”

     “Good, ‘cuz I don’t do well with skeletons."

Prompto laughed, ducking his head slightly. There was a beat of silence, and then Noctis looked over to his friend. Prompto brought his head up and met Noctis’ gaze. Noctis’ face was even, neutral, and in the moonlight, he looked wise– otherworldly, even.

     “Go be happy,” Noctis said soothingly. “You took a chance with me and look how that ended up.”

     Prompto smiled then; the gesture shook slightly as he was overcome with sudden emotion, his old pride welling up along with that long ago relief that he wasn’t lonely anymore. “You’re one of my best friends…”

     “Damn right.” Noctis then looked out to the water again. “Gladio’s strong. He’s protective. He’s an asshole sometimes, but when he says things, he really means it…” Noctis gently nodded his head as his line quietly bobbed in the water. "You deserve him, Prom. You really do."

Prompto stared at his friend for a moment longer. The moonlight made his glimmering blue eyes shine that much more brightly. The honesty helped him. It was encouraging, absolutely. And from Noctis, it meant the world. Someone who understood how this could be a struggle for him… Prompto lifted up his left hand and curled it into a fist. He moved it forward about half a centimeter, paused, and then tapped his knuckles against Noctis’ arm. The gesture was a little weak. Prompto's lips tugged up in the left corner. Finally, Prompto leaned forward. He pressed his face against Noctis’ shoulder in a quiet sign of thanks.

He turned his head to look out towards the water. Together, they sat in a comfortable silence at the moonlit lake as Noctis fished in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double upload! I hope this wasn't hamfisted in anyway.
> 
> Mn… What is with me and the moon making people look 'otherworldly'. Huh. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.


	5. As Things Heat Up

Noctis’ words echoed in Prompto’s mind and resonated in his heart. _Go be happy_. It wasn’t a harsh command, and it wasn’t a sarcastic send off either. It was more of a request, this simple piece of advice. It was kind of funny and perhaps kind of sad that Prompto had to be coaxed to think of himself in such a way, that he had to be _urged_ into pursuing his own happiness. But… a little encouragement never hurt. 

It was just that confessions were never really his strong suit. He had a couple of crushes back in school, and the furthest he ever went with them was leaving anonymous notes in their lockers. And then… there was his embarrassingly obvious crush on Cindy… Embarrassingly. Obvious.

And then, there was this. And  _this_ was different. This was– augh. He always hated to think about it this way or even use this word because it was so old-fashioned. But, this… was a ‘courtship’. He had imprinted; he wanted Gladio as a lover, a mate. (And even using  _that_ word made his ears burn hot.) This was a whole new level for him. It was scary, just like Noctis had said, but he wanted to do this. He wanted to relent to his insincts and desires and go after what he wanted. He just needed to figure out how…

While he deliberated, he spent a lot of time with wistful looks and quiet gestures where he moved himself closer to Gladio. He passed the days planning his next move and trying to mentally prepare himself for the inevitable rejection. He spent two weeks in total _thinking_. He _really_ didn’t want to mess this up. During this time, they moved on to a few different campgrounds. They took on marks to gather their gil so they could afford reasonable accommodations in the next big town (which was unfortunately still some distance away). _And_ during this time, Prompto took his medicine again. He swallowed down the pill and jostled the bottle; he had enough to last him a few months at least. Taking one pill once every two weeks wasn’t a bad deal. He heard of other packminds– Omegas especially– who had to take their suppressants more frequently, some even having to take numerous pills a _day_. He shuddered at the thought. 

He couldn’t imagine having to go through anything like that. The worst he could say about his medicine so far was that it had thrown his heat out of whack. He hadn’t had his heat in, what, a _year_? Or something like that? Jeez, it had been a while. But, he some sinking feeling that that was going to change. With the prescription Ignis had gotten from the last town, Prompto felt a bit… odd. That strange discomfort he had previously experienced had spread now into a full-bodied numbness. And before it became a thing of notable concern, it melted into a more passive warmth, which was far easier for him to deal with. Running warm wasn’t uncommon for him, both on an individual level and as an Omega. 

Honestly, it just made it easier to deal with humid days like this.

Prompto sat in the entrance of the tent as he used his shirt to fan himself. He had the fabric pinched between his thumb and forefinger as he jerked the front of his shirt repeatedly under his chin. He watched blankly as Ignis milled about, made notes on his phone, and mumbled to himself. Noctis walked to and fro as he helped Gladio straighten out the campsite. Finally, Ignis wandered towards the Regalia, slipping his phone into back pocket.

     “Who’s coming into town with me?” Ignis asked, setting a hand on his hip and the other on the Regalia.

     “I’ll go,” Noctis said with a shrug.

     Prompto raised a hand. “I’ll head in.” 

     “I’ll stay here.” Gladio rubbed the back of his neck, looking towards their set up. “Finish up straightening everything out around here.”

Ignis looked around and gave a quiet nod of his head. Prompto glanced over towards Gladio, who still worked at his neck, squeezing his fingers and massaging with a tight expression his face. 

     “You okay, Gladdy?” Prompto asked as he reached over to pull his boots onto his feet, letting out soft grunts as he did.

     “Crick in my neck,” Gladio groaned. “I’ll be alright."

     Prompto made a soft noise but then stood up to his feet. He turned to zip the tent closed, walked over, and clapped Gladio on the back. “Be back soon.”

     “Later.” Gladio raised his free hand up to wave the others off.

Prompto spun around and jogged over to the car. Noctis was stretched out in the back, his head resting against the door with his hands interlaced over his stomach. His eyes were closed, and his legs were crossed, feet tilting left and right as he waited. Prompto hopped over the passenger door, smiling over at Ignis, who merely shook his head and revved up the engine. 

     “I found a town nearby on the GPS,” Ignis said to Prompto, speaking loud enough for Noctis to hear in case he was listening. “We’re heading in to see what they have in the way of supplies, lodgings, et cetera.” He then carefully maneuvered the Regalia out of their campsite towards the road.

     “Makes sense.” Prompto shifted towards the door, accepting the harsher blow of wind against his overheated body. “Gonna try and get some bounties?”

     “If we can.” Ignis rubbed his curled right hand under his jaw. “We’ll settle all that when we get there.”

Prompto nodded his head and looked out to the scenery around them. The scenery was bland and passed without comment. It took about thirty minutes to navigate into the next town. All the while, Prompto felt himself feeling worse. Warm, he could handle, but there was also an unpleasant soapy taste in his mouth. He frowned and tried to ignore the taste, though he was unable to stop himself from repeatedly licking his lips unhappily. When they made it into town to run errands, Prompto bought a boxed water. He chugged it, and it _barely_  helped to alleviate the feeling. Ah well. He pushed on. What more could he do? He mentioned it to the others in an almost flippant manner, downplaying the strangeness he felt. 

But when the soapy-mouth-taste was accompanied by a sickly lighteheadedness, Prompto knew that he wasn’t in a great place. As much as he tried, he couldn’t laugh it off. 

     “You’re looking a little ill,” Ignis said. He reached over to right Prompto, who had started swaying dramatically. “Is everything okay?”

     “Dammit,” Prompto mumbled.

He felt warm around his neck like there was a collar wrapped around his throat. He swallowed and shook his head. Even such a small motion made his vision swim. Prompto curled his fingers into a tight fist to ground himself. He was going into heat, and it was about to be a bumpy ride.

     “You wanna go back to camp?” Noctis asked softly, slowly walking closer and leaning forward to look at Prompto’s face.

Prompto nodded. It was all he could do. Noctis and Ignis shared a look, and then Ignis quietly guided Prompto back towards the car. Prompto reached forward, opening the door hurriedly and nearly stumbling into the passenger seat.

     “Are you sure you don’t want to–“

     “‘m fine,” Prompto mumbled, keeping his words quick and his tone clipped. Not out of disrespect, but he didn’t want to accidentally influence Ignis or Noctis in any way. He sat down in the passenger seat and looked up to Ignis as the door closed. Ignis froze when they met each other’s gaze. Prompto grit his teeth before looking away. “Let’s go.”

     “… Right,” Ignis said in a controlled voice. He pushed away from the door.

Behind Prompto, there was a soft grunt followed by the sound of Noctis landing in the back. Noctis brought his hands onto the seat and leaned forward, lowly checking on Prompto with a soft, curious noise. Prompto leaned his head towards the Beta and gave a low whimper. Noctis frowned and touched their heads together before sinking back into his seat. They drove back to the campsite, and this time, Prompto didn’t watch the scenery. His arms were wrapped loosely around his middle; his eyebrows knit tight together and thin lips tugged down. He felt a comforting hand against his thigh, an idle pass through his hair, but still he didn’t stir. As they came closer to the campsite, the Regalia slowed down, and Prompto opened his eyes at the sound of combat.

Gladio stood with his back to the campsite. He held his greatsword behind his back, his left arm extended out and fingers curled slightly in a claw like position. His back was tight with his shoulders hunched up and his body leaning forward. His stance was purely aggressive as he barred the shadowy jackals from advancing forward. Before the Regalia came to a complete stop, Noctis stood up and called his curved sword from the crystal plane. He disappeared in a flash as Ignis parked the car where it was. He whipped his head over towards Prompto.

     “Will you be alright?” he asked.

     “I’m fighting too,” Prompto protested, turning his head slightly to look at Ignis with squinted eyes. “I can stay out of the way and shoot from the back.”

     Ignis gave him a brief look, several emotions contained behind his eyes, before he finally moved out of the car. “Alright. Be safe.”

Prompto nodded his head and conjured his gun. He wrapped his fingers around the butt of the pistol. His index finger stroked against the trigger guard, and then he turned to rest his arm over the passenger door, using it as a stabiliser as he took aim. There were moments between his shooting when he was just watching the battle play out in front of him. Noctis and Ignis and Gladio danced around these gangly, horned jackal creatures. The reverberating screeches from the creatures sent an unpleasant chill down his spine. Prompto’s stomach clenched in an awful way, but he could disguise all of his discomforts with each fire of his gun.

One of the jackals disappeared out of sight, and Prompto blinked blearily when he noticed. He looked around the field as the other three males fought further away from him. But then, there was a vicious hissing off to his right, and Prompto ducked down just in time, missing the jackal that leapt for his head. Its claws caught along the edge of the door as it fell unceremoniously to the ground. Prompto hurried. He climbed up, pressed his foot against the door, and leapt off. He fired down at the jackal, which screamed and gurgled with each bullet. Prompto caught himself when he landed. His vision swam again; he took a moment to collect himself before hurrying away from their camp. He didn’t want to catch the attention of the other jackals and risk ruining any of their things. 

Prompto was glad that the others had such a good handle on the battle. He managed to keep himself at a distance throughout, only having to shift and move whenever a jackal so much as looked in his direction. But midway through, Prompto started to lose energy. His body ran hotter; a helpless whimper left him when he felt a powerful shudder rip through his body from his feet to his head. _Dammit_ , he thought, barely managing to keep himself from falling over. His vision went hazy, but his body reacted automatically, unloading several shots into a jackal as it sped towards him. He managed to slow the creature down, but then somebody blocked his vision. A strong arm wrapped around his middle, hoisting him up and setting him down in a safer location. Gladio gave Prompto a quick once over to make sure he was okay. His amber eyes had a more brilliant quality to them. He was gritting his teeth, jaw locked in his determination.

Seeing that everything was in order, he spun quickly and slammed his sword down towards the jackal. The creature jerked out of the way. It opened its mouth slowly; there were too many teeth stuffed into its maw. Its body vibrated eerily in place; it dragged its front paws backwards. Gladio drew in a deep breath. He leaned forward slowly. A deep warning growl escaped him; his mouth opened with the noise, revealing his sharpened fangs. While Prompto could no longer see Gladio’s face as the Alpha squared off against this jackal, trying to dominate it through his sheer presence alone, the Alphaic aura rolled off Gladio in waves. A whimper caught in Prompto’s throat like a hiccup. He tightened his fingers around the butt of his gun, which hung limply down at his side; the nail of his index finger rested on the edge of the trigger guard. 

There was a tension moment between the three of them. Prompto watched as Gladio and the jackal stared each other down. Ignis shouted  _“And stay down!”_ from somewhere else, and Prompto’s stomach knotted at the influence, even from his distance. But all of the tension finally snapped in a sudden burst of movement. Prompto’s eyes widened as all of the anticipation wound tight through his form released suddenly when Gladio swung to block the jackal’s attack with one hand. Prompto ducked backwards, moving sluggishly out of the way to give the Alpha all the room he needed to fight.

He watched as the jackal was easily disposed of. Even though its gangly form greatly helped its mobility, the beast was bested. When it was over, Prompto spun his gun on his middle finger and tucked it into an invisible holster on his hip. The gun immediately vanished in a fragment of colour when his hand moved away. He stared up at Gladio’s back, breathing in deeply through his parted lips. He reached forward weakly, drawn to this scent, this presence that was so fearsome and _powerful_ … But then, Noctis and Ignis jogged back over to them. Noctis headed to Gladio, and Ignis came to Prompto. 

     “You got beat _up_ , man,” Noctis said to Gladio with a joking voice.

     Gladio laughed; his growl underlined the noise. “Help me look pretty again, Noct.”

     “C’mon.” Noctis led Gladio towards the chairs. “Guarded everything pretty well.”

     Gladio scratched his eyebrow with his thumb. “Woof,” he huffed out as he flopped down into one of the chairs.

Noctis walked away and headed into the tent. Prompto barely registered the fact that he and Ignis were following in Gladio’s footsteps. When Gladio sat down and as they passed, Prompto blinked as if he was suddenly free from a trance. Noctis emerged from the tent with a black bag, its strap hanging over his shoulder. He looked up to see Prompto and Ignis and stepped out of their way. Prompto ducked his head as they entered the tent. Ignis went down to the bed mats first and gently coaxed Prompto down with him.

As soon as Prompto’s nose comes close to Ignis’ neck, he gave a shuddering whine. Ignis’ Alpha scent isn’t as aggressive or as dominating as Gladio’s was, but it was still _unquestionably_ Alpha. It reminded Prompto of smoke from a flame, choking and subduing, and beneath that was the dominating caress that trailed along the front of Prompto’s throat from his clavicle up to his chin. Prompto nuzzled up against the cradle of Ignis’ jaw, bumping his nose right under the Alpha’s ear. His whine was especially tuned, hitting a sweet pitch that made Ignis hold his breath. It was then that Prompto leaned in and nipped at Ignis’ neck. He purred softly at the taste of sweat and skin. He brought himself closer, chasing the Alpha scent that slowly calmed down his heated mind. 

He hooked a leg between both of Ignis’ and pressed his face against the curve of Ignis’ shoulder. Being this close to an Alpha helped balance out the craving he felt crawling up from deep within, but… this wasn’t exactly enough. The whispers of his early heat became louder urges, and Prompto whimpered again; the sound was more mournful this time. He brushed his lips against the bare skin of Ignis’ neck. He didn’t bite. He let out a cute moan, just a little one, but it was undercut by yet another needy, sad whimper. 

He wanted Gladio– he needed Gladio right now, but acknowledging that made something fearful twist up his stomach. Not like this… If he wanted to be closer, if he wanted to go about this in a way he could handle it, he couldn’t be like _this_.

     “Prompto,” Ignis called to the blond. His voice was soft, and Prompto felt himself quiet down just a little. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Prompto hesitated, but he shook his head. He squeezed Ignis’ shoulder, silently signaling that he didn’t want him to leave either.

     “Do you know what could help?”

     “Gl–" Prompto started, but his words fell short. His mouth hung open, and a whimper passed through. He grit his teeth and silently shook his head. No. It couldn’t be like this… 

Ignis rubbed a hand over Prompto’s back and gave a long sigh. Prompto felt a soft rumbling in Ignis’ chest, and the noise calmed him. “ _Prompto…_ ” The Alpha said, his voice tender suddenly as he tried to quell whatever else past this heat phase was bothering Prompto. It wasn’t long before Prompto submitted to sleep. His lips rested against the crook of Ignis’ neck. His tight hold relaxed, and his body fell into a mindless peace.

 

_Prompto’s footsteps echoed through the castle halls. His body shook with each hard footfall. He was running in slow motion, his breathing shallow as he reached up to pull a Lucian royal uniform from his body. His dreaming mind recognised it as a guard’s uniform. He peeled the smoke grey blazer off his torso first._

_He pulled it down over his biceps, revealing a sleeveless red V-necked shirt underneath. He tugged the sleeves off and let the blazer fall behind. He swallowed down some emotion like worry or anxiety as he pushed forward. He reached down for the trousers next. He had to remove them as he ran, and in his dream, he did so with great urgency but with far more grace that he’s sure he was capable of in real life._

_He’s left with rolled up blue jeans. The trousers of his uniform were tugged down over his boots with one leaping step after the other. He cast the clothing behind him as well, glancing over his shoulder as he watched the trousers fall behind before facing forward. As he ran, his hands cut through the air. One rose then the other._

_Left,_

_right,_

_left…_

_When the right rose again, he was holding one of his pistols in his hand. The chamber was popped open. He reached up with his left to give it a spin before finally snapping it closed. He ran to the middle of the hall, and time returned to normal as he slowed his steps. He turned to his right. Before him is a patch of darkness against the wall. He reached forward with his left, fingers flicking out once- twice- again and again nervously until he forced himself to grab the door handle. And twist._

_Open._

_He pushed the door open and took a step with his left, leaving his gun towards whatever’s on the other side. He blinked and saw… himself. Just a stout twelve year old sitting on a bed surrounded by photos. None of them he can see– but he felt a sense of recognition just in them_ being _there. His younger self looked up and gave him… a look. A not quite smile, and there was an indescribable sense of expectation in his jaded blue eyes._

_“Hey,” he said– this younger Prompto said. “Where’ve you been?”_

_And now they’re in view together. The younger Prompto sat on the bed to the right, the older Prompto standing, dumbfounded, in the doorway to the left. Their eyes met. And in the silence, they said nothing._

 

There was a gradual shift as blackness overtook his dream. Prompto adjusted himself in his sleep; his fingers found purchase somewhere new. His leg hooked again between two others, and he sighed through his nose. Another moan left him. This one was sleepy and lacked any of the sexual fervor that trailed underneath his previous ones. His body settled down, and before he was pulled into the darkness of sleep, he felt a comforting hand on his head.

 

_There was a meadow, an endless stretch of grassy calmness in which he sat. If he were standing, the grass would come up just a bit higher than his ankle. It blew in the wind, creating beautiful waves all around him. The Sun accentuated the baby blue tone of the sky and the plush but infrequent clouds. Prompto sat on the ground with his legs loosely crossed in front of himself. His hands were resting on his ankles, and the smile on his face was nothing short of serene. His shirt, a simple white shirt with soft yellow stripes, was completely unbuttoned and blown open by a gentle breeze. He basked in the Sun; his freckles stood out more against his skin._

_The wind feathered through his hair almost lovingly. At a closer view, he turned his head ever so slightly to the left, blinking slowly in content as he does. His eyes appeared as a shining blue, hinting more towards violet, and were framed perfectly by long, blond lashes. He blinked again, and…_

 

Prompto woke up slowly from his dream. He let out a sleepy, confused noise as his mind joined the rest of his form. He opened his eyes and noticed that the body beneath him was not quite as svelte as before. It was muscular, warmer. The scent was far more calming. Prompto slowly looked up from the dark grey shirt towards the other familiar face. Gladio was reading a book oh so casually. His left hand was behind his head; his right kept the book splayed open. When he felt movement, Gladio looked down to Prompto and smirked.

     “Hey, Prom. How’d ya sleep?”

     “Ah… Pretty good, actually.” Without thinking, Prompto began kneading Gladio’s shoulder. He shifted himself closer, better fitting their bodies against one another. “When’d you get here?”

     “Not too long ago. Ignis went to make lunch– or ‘supper’, really. Says he’s got something special planned for dinner. You hungry?”

     “Getting there.” Prompto gave a little smile. The returning laugh made him feel… good, calm. _Safe_. It wasn’t the first time he felt that way around Gladio. He watched the Alpha for a moment longer before resting his head back down on Gladio’s chest. He focused up on the book the other male held. “What’re you reading?”

     “… _‘Quietude Lurks’_ by Malveaux.”

Prompto gave the smallest of hums. He wasn’t sure what to think of the book just from its title, but it sounded heavy. Either way, he made sure he was comfortable before saying,

     “Read some to me."

     A beat. “Really?”

     “Sure.” Prompto gave a little shrug in return. “Just might be the thing that puts me back to sleep.”

     Gladio scoffed; he rolled his shoulder under Prompto’s head pointedly. “Hmph. Alright."

Gladio took a moment to find his place again. When he started reading again, Prompto listened quietly. The steady tone of Gladio’s voice was nice. It rolled through his body like a growl or a purr, but the consistent rhythm was like a melody, even when he misread a word and had to try again. Prompto was entraced by the Alpha. The warmth of Gladio’s body seemed in perfect harmony with his own. The deepest part of his core no longer had that encroaching urgency. He felt sated by the closeness they shared. He could have nipped at the Alpha to entice Gladio to release more of his scent, but it was… unnecessary. What they had at the moment was perfect. Effortless.

At the thought of ‘effortless’, he was suddenly reminded of how easily Gladio had picked him up in battle, how the Alpha raced to his side to help keep him out of danger. Prompto pressed his face against Gladio’s chest. He was lucky. He was so very lucky to have such a person in his life that fought with and for him, that looked out for him, that protected him. And while this treatment wasn’t exclusive to Prompto alone, he was glad to be one of the lucky ones who received it. He was fortunate in a lot of ways, and he could only imagine how lucky he would have to be in order to have Gladio as his Alpha. He closed his eyes, took in a breath, and told himself that there was no more time to waste.

He had to take a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might recognise these enemies from [Strike](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3677883). Or not. And if that's the case, feel free to get familiar~


	6. Chances

     “Alright,” Ignis said with a hard sigh. “We need to go into town today. We never did finish our errands from yesterday.”

     Prompto sucked on his tongue and gave a pained smile. “Sorry about that.”

     Ignis raised a hand dismissively. “I’m not blaming you, merely stating facts.” He looked to the others. “So, second run into town. Are you coming with?"

     “Might as well,” Noctis said with a slight drag of his voice.

     “I wouldn’t mind going in either,” Gladio said. “If more jackals wanna come into the camp, they can have it. I’m done.”

     Ignis smirked and shook his head slowly. “Alright. Let’s head in."

     “Iggy, wait.” 

Ignis paused in his steps and looked down to Prompto, who approached him. Noctis and Gladio talked as they headed towards the car together. Ignis lowered his gaze slightly when he noticed that Prompto was fanning himself again.

     “I wanted to know where you put my prescription sheet,” Prompto said.

     Ignis gestured Prompto closer and pressed his palm against the blond’s forehead. “It’s in the glove box, I believe.” He cupped his hands around Prompto’s neck, ignoring the little whine that escaped the Omega, and then moved his hands down to Prompto’s shoulders. “How’re you feeling?” he asked calmly.

     “Better. Woozy but not as bad as yesterday.” Prompto gave a little smile as he shifted nervously in place. “Thanks for helping me out.”

     “Wouldn’t be right if I didn’t.” Ignis turned and began towards the Regalia. Prompto fell in step. “Apologies for switching out on you.”

     “It’s… fine. I, uh, ended up sleeping pretty well either way.”

There was a heavy pause. Prompto looked up to Ignis, who glanced down at him. And then, a knowing smile crept up over Ignis’ lips.

     “I bet you did,” he said, a thread of amusement in his voice.

Prompto pressed his lips together and shoved at his friend, earning a laugh in response. 

     “Don’t tease,” Prompto mumbled.

     “No need to be embarrassed,” Ignis said, his tone _very much_ teasing.

Prompto clicked his tongue and stared pointedly at the car as they approached. They both joined Noctis and Gladio. As Ignis prepared for the drive, Prompto gave one last look to the camp. Hopefully, jackals or something _wouldn’t_ come raid the camp. Talk about inconvenient. He’d hate to lose any of their belongings. He drew his attention away as the Regalia drove off towards the main road. Prompto sank down in his chair, trying to get comfortable as the Sun shone down without a single cloud to block it. Prompto’s skin, already so warm from his oddly timed heat, felt incredibly hotter with the sunlight. He tugged his shirt by the neck, allowing the fabric to slump down below his neck. 

He rolled his shoulders as he squirmed against the seat. In spite of the lack of notable scenery, the ride was very pleasant. Prompto leaned his head to the right. After staring at the passing trees for a moment, Prompto glanced down to the rear view mirror; he stared at his own reflection absently. But then, he noticed something. He was surprised to see Gladio staring at the back of his seat. M-maybe he was just thinking? Yeah… he was just lost in thought. Prompto watched for a moment longer with furrowed brows. And then, Gladio’s gaze shifted slightly towards him. Gladio's eyes were hooded, his expression even as he stared back at Prompto. The blond ducked his head suddenly and stared down at his lap. 

He patiently reminded himself that he would do something _soon_. It was just hard not to be flustered around the Alpha in the mean time. Prompto sighed and closed his eyes. Just a little longer, just a little longer…

They pulled into the quiet town, and Prompto opened his eyes to take in their surroundings. Everything was very neat and unassuming, so nothing stood out particularly as a point of interest. They pulled up to a run of the mill service station. Ignis pulled up at one of the pumps, and Noctis drew himself out of the car to head into the store. And that left Gladio and Prompto on their own. Ignis pulled his wallet out of his back pocket as he headed into the store after Noctis. Prompto watched the two go, and then he glanced to the center rear view mirror this time. Gladio was resting in the back; his eyes were closed, and one arm was thrown over the top of the seats. Prompto took in a deep breath and settled back down.

He looked around again. They were properly alone; there weren’t any other people at the station that could have overheard them if they talked. The streets were also pretty empty, but oddly enough, he didn’t find that to be a problem. He turned in his seat, thinking he had the courage to finally say something– but… Prompto grunted. He was hit by a sudden wave of wooziness. He pressed his face against his seat. He shifted, trying to make himself comfortable, and ended up in a half curled position. Warmth wrapped around his body before sinking in deep to his core. Well, so much for that attempt.

He heard footsteps approaching, and then a voice said,

     “Well, the inn has a bounty board in its lobby, if you wanna check there,” said an unfamiliar, gruff voice. “The inn _itself_ is booked, unfortunately, but you can still walk in and check out the board. There’s also a tavern that opens up at about 5PM, if you wanna wait around for  _that_.”

     “We’ll take our chances with the inn, thank you,” Ignis said. 

Prompto heard the back door open, and then Noctis slid into his seat shortly after. Prompto opened his eyes to see the Beta watching him curiously. When their eyes met, Noctis raised his brows. Prompto shook his head silently. He was fine. Behind him, he heard the metallic clanging of the gas pump, and soon, the smell of gasoline wafted up into the air. Prompto grimaced at the smell. It seemed _especially_ unpleasant right about now. He covered his mouth with one hand to block the smell. He was glad when it was over and when Ignis got back into the car to take them all towards the inn.

Prompto noticed a store called Fenrir’s Pharmacy as they drove down. He raised one brow curiously. Ah, so there was a packmind store around here. There was something interesting after all… 

They pulled up at the inn and walked in as a unit. The interior was _beautiful_  with natural brown and gold stones lining the ceiling and the floors. The walls were made of a dark wood, and the lighting was inviting and reminded Prompto, in a strange way, of home. The main lobby was massive. To the right was a sitting area with rounded tables and a raised seating area against the far right wall. On that side and just slightly ahead of them was the reception area. There was a long hallway to the left, and between both sections was a wooden dividing wall. The group walked over towards the wall and saw the various bulletins posted up. Noctis stepped closer and read through each one with great interest.

     “What about this one?” he asked, pulling a slightly burned notice from the wall. 

     “I was thinking something like this one.” Ignis touched his finger against a larger flyer.

Prompto looked between the two. He listened for a little longer; slowly and almost without realising it, his arms wrapped around his middle. His stomach turned slowly, and he felt that tickling numbness around his neck again. Prompto blinked slowly and turned himself to the right, heading to the reception area. He uncoiled his arms as he approached and flashed a smile at the women sitting behind the desk.

     “Hey. Do you have a public bathroom here…?”

     “Just down the hall that way, sir,” said the brunette with a tight bun at the back of her head. She leaned forward as she indicated the side hall with her pen. “It’ll be the first set of doors to your left."

     Prompto nodded his head and lifted his hand. “Thanks!” he said before turning around. “Back in a sec,” he said to his friends as he passed.

He moved rather quickly around the wooden wall, and emphatically power walking was all he could do to keep himself from running. He pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into the immaculate bathroom. He didn’t take a moment to look around and admire the interior— he sped immediately into the second stall. He closed the door, brought his hands to his stomach, and pressed down with his fingers. His muscles were tense underneath. Prompto took in a deep breath as he worked open his pants. He tugged them down over his legs and froze.

     “I can’t believe this,” he mumbled to himself as he took notice of the slight sheen on his legs. He reached down to touch his fingers against his jeans. They were _damp_ , and Prompto gave an embarrassed whine with clenched teeth. “Oh my god,” he whined, bringing his hands up to his face. He was dry this morning…! Everything seemed to go wrong whenever they rode into this town. What happened on the way here that made him so wet? He rubbed his face viciously with his palms. His slick was still fresh against the back of his legs, and he was more than certain his underwear was in a similar state as his jeans. 

He was glad that his underwear and his jeans were both dark; otherwise, he never would have been able to live with this. He drew his hands down his face, fingers steepled over his nose and palms tented over his mouth. He hoped he didn’t leave any evidence on his seat in the Regalia. The thought made him close his eyes in embarrassment. Prompto knocked his head back against the stall door a few times. His hair jostled around his head; he just barely managed to make out the sound of the bathroom door opening over his silent admonishment.

He rubbed his face with both hands. He leaned his head against the stall and wondered what to do. Thankfully, his jeans were dark, and so it was hard to tell what happened. But he still needed to deal with his… mess. Prompto tapped his head against the stall door several times for good measure. Being an Omega was such a drag sometimes. He hadn’t been through this in so long too. 

     “Doin’ alright in here?” Gladio asked. "Ran off in a hurry.”

     “‘m… fine,” Prompto lied. He reached a hand up into his hair, tightly clenching the blond locks as he stared down at his pants. 

     Gladio took in a deep breath, and the sound of his footsteps stopped near Prompto’s stall. “Must be,” he said, his voice noticeably deeper. “Thought I heard you hammering out a beat in here.”

     Prompto scoffed out a laugh and leaned his head against the stall door again. “‘Bathroom stall’ is my favourite genre of music,” he joked weakly.

Gladio laughed. The sound was pleasant, gruff. The Alpha moved closer, and Prompto nearly jumped when he felt the door rock slightly towards him under Gladio’s weight.

     “What happened?” Gladio asked softly after a momentary silence.

Prompto debated about saying anything. He wasn’t in a great place, and he wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing these clothes anymore. If his heat was kicking up this much, these pants and underwear wouldn’t hold up any. And the other clothes he had as well, they were all made for more mundane people. He keened softly and gave a long suffering sigh.

     “My clothes are ruined. I… really don’t wanna wear them out here.”

     “Pants? Shirt? What?”

     “Pants…” Prompto said softly. _Please, don’t make me spell it out_ , he thought to himself.

     He sucked in a startled breath when Gladio knocked against the door. “Wait here,” the Alpha said. “I’ll be right back.”

     “Kay."

With that, Gladio exited out of the bathroom. The door opened and closed, and Prompto waited a moment before moving. Now that he was alone, guess he should take a moment to clean himself up. He moved over to the toilet and sat down. His boots came off first and then his pants. He glanced over to the toilet paper dispenser flatly. As he unrolled several sheets of toilet paper and tugged down his underwear, he mumbled to himself in embarrassment.

     “I can’t _believe_ this!”

     “Of _course_ this would happen now.”

     “There goes my one year streak…”

     “Iggy’s gonna kill me when he gets to the car, jeez…"

After tossing all the used toilet paper into the toilet, he tugged up his boxer briefs and waved his hand in front of the sensor. As all of his shame was flushed down, he grabbed his jeans to assess the damage. The front, of course (and thankfully), was dry, but the inner thighs were partially damp, and the backs were unspeakably wet. He groaned and sat down on the toilet. Prompto folded the jeans up and then draped them over his thighs before burying his face in his hands.

Embarrassment melted away into silent contemplation. On the plus side, he didn’t feel nearly as burning hot as he did yesterday, and the tingling feeling around his neck dissipated. There was a faint tingling over his skin, but there was nothing else of note going on. Thankfully. Prompto nearly jumped out of his skin when the toilet automatically flushed under him nearly two minutes later. He brought his hand to his heart and coaxed himself to calm down. He turned to give the toilet an incredulous look. What a day he was having. His greatest shock today was an automatic toilet just doing it job. Well, all in all, if that was the worst thing to happen to him today, he supposed he was doing alright.

The bathroom door opened; Prompto stared at his stall door silently and waited.

     “Prom,” came Gladio’s voice. “Open up.”

Prompto hopped up from the toilet (glad that it didn’t go off again) and slid open the latch. Gladio stuck in his arm through the open door and held out a large, weighted brown paper bag. Prompto took the bag and closed the door when Gladio withdrew his arm. 

     “I went to that pharmacy; since it’s the only PM store around here, they’ve got some other things like clothes and stuff."

     “Well… it’s not like this town is that big or anything, so that’s pretty handy.”

Prompto picked through the bag. Not only was there a new pair of pants, there was also new underwear. He gave a little smile before setting down the bag. He pulled off his underwear and reached down for the new pair. It was a set of three black boxer briefs. Prompto noticed that each waistband had something different written on them. He gave a little laugh and snapped off the security tab keeping the underwear together. He slipped on the new pair. The soft, stretchy fabric felt like a dream going up over his legs. He gave a soft sigh as he flipped the waistband over, running his fingers over his stretch marks as he admired the briefs’ fit on him.

     “Nice,” he said out loud, turning this way and that to look at himself.

He heard Gladio chuckle, which shook him out of his short lived admiration. Right, he wasn’t alone. The main bathroom door opened, and Gladio greeted their companions.

     “Before we start. Prompto,” Noctis called out.

     “Present!” Prompto called out as he pulled out dusty gold pants with ochre coloured stripes from within the bag.

     “Okay, we’re good.” 

     Prompto laughed and unbuttoned his pants as Ignis began to speak, “We’ve found three bounties that pay well and have low responses.” There was a shuffling of paper on the other side of the door. “They’re high ranked, but we’ve taken on worse.”

     “Bad ass,” Gladio muttered. More shifting. He must have been looking through the marks.

     “Prom, you coming with us?” Noctis asked.

     Prompto feigned thought. Didn’t seem like a good idea with the way he kept weaving in and out of his heat like this. “Mmn. I don’t think I should. Don’t wanna get eaten by some baddie,” Prompto said in the stall.

He fiddled about with the pants in his hands, rolling up both legs before stepping into the garment. The inside of the jeans felt just as pleasant going up his legs as the underwear did. The jeans came up to his belly button, and he swiped his hands over his thighs as he fit it properly. He had nothing against mundane clothes, but wearing something with a heatguard sewn in just made him feel infinitely more secure.

     “And none of us can stay behind, considering,” Ignis mused. 

Prompto squinted his eyes at the stall door as he fixed his shirt over his pants. He didn’t trust the tone of Ignis’ voice. Was he planning something…? He pushed the thought out of his head and reached down to put on his boots.

     “Have fun without me. Just bring me back something cool, alright?”

     “Like a tooth from a sabertusk?” Noctis joked. “Or a piece of behemoth’s horn?"

     “Sure; I’ll take it.” Prompto knelt down to shove his clothes in the bag. “Either one– both. I’m not picky.”

     “Just _greedy_."

     Ignis laughed; it came out more as a single breath. “Alright then; we’ll meet out in front when you’re ready.”

     Paper traded hands as Gladio said, “See ya in a bit."

And then the two left as unhurriedly as they came. Prompto stood up straight, checked around the stall, tossed his balled up, slick-wet underwear into the bag, and finally exited out. He rubbed his free hand along his thigh and looked up nervously to Gladio. There was a shine in the Alpha’s eyes, and Prompto bit the inside of his cheek.

     “Are you going to be alright today?” Gladio asked. His voice had a growl just faintly audible underneath each word.

     Prompto nodded his head. “Yeah, I can just… hang out around here. Or go down to that pharmacy, actually. Wouldn’t hurt checking it out. I gotta go talk with someone about my medicine anyway.” He brought the bag up onto the counter.

     “… You should _be careful_ being _out on your own_.”

The influence wove in and out of Gladio’s words and swam through Prompto’s head. The authority descended over his mind like a fog. _Be careful out on your own._ After what happened a while ago, Prompto was definitely going to be on his guard now. But with the way Gladio watched him, Prompto felt sorry for anyone that would even think of coming near him. It was comforting– actually, it felt _damn_ good– to see that protective look leveled down at him. 

     Prompto took in a deep breath and nodded his head. “I will, trust me.” He turned his right hand over and then smoothed it out in the air. “I got this.”

     Gladio smirked. “I bet you do, but…” He trailed off and then tipped his head to the side.

Prompo looked up to the Alpha and waited. His left hand fingers tightened on the paper strap on the bag; he lowered his right hand down to the sink counter. After a moment, Gladio turned his attention back towards Prompto.

     “Want me to scent-mark you just in case? Might keep some of the lurkers away.”

     Prompto didn’t even have a chance to think. The word left him in a single breath. _“Yes.”_

Prompto felt his own voice lilt in some special way. Gladio closed his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nose. When he opened his eyes, he stepped closer towards Prompto, who was suddenly so _very_ aware of their height difference. There was nearly a foot between them, and he felt as if he was sizing up against a Titan. He licked his lips in anticipation as Gladio focused solely on him. There was a seriousness to Gladio’s face that didn’t denote displeasure or concentration. It was hard to explain, hard for Prompto to entirely process as the larger male took in another deep breath. 

     “ _Your scent…_ ” Gladio said.

The strength of his words was further emphasised by the growl building in Gladio’s voice. Prompto couldn’t stop himself from swaying very briefly in place. His stomach dipped at the sound. This was happening. Somehow, this was really happening to him. Prompto gripped the edge of the counter to keep himself steady.

     “Y-yeah?”

Gladio’s hands cupped over Prompto’s neck, and then he slid them down to the Omega’s shoulders. Gladio pressed his nose against Prompto’s neck, and Prompto shifted his head to the side. He stared at the door and hoped to every higher power that no one would come. 

But then, his worry melted away as Gladio’s aura pressed upon him. People usually spoke of a typical Alpha’s dominance, but Gladio’s was something sharper. He was a fighter, a protector, and his will was threaded in that steady aura, creating a powerful, inviting presence that made Prompto swoon. Heat built between their bodies and trailed after Gladio’s palms as they passed over Prompto’s ribs. Gladio’s fingers framed either side of Prompto’s spine. Gladio knelt down in front of Prompto’s body, and Prompto moved his left hand down to Gladio’s hair and stroked through the wavy locks. Gladio pressed his cheek against the blond’s left hip, and a long, satisfied growl left him. Prompto felt himself keen in response. The noise embarrassed him, but he couldn’t stop himself. Gladio’s left hand slid over, and he pushed up Prompto’s shirt to expose the blond’s side. His right hand gripped the back of Prompto’s leg, just under the blond’s ass.

     “Are you ready?” Gladio asked finally. He looked up to Prompto, and the look in his eyes was indescribable.

Prompto felt his heart leap for joy, but the rest of him was trembling under Gladio’s hold. In spite of this, he nodded.

     “Ready.” 

He felt Gladio take in a breath against his leg, his strong chest lifting with the action. Then, Gladio opened his mouth. Prompto saw the Alpha’s newly formed fangs, and he felt as if everything stopped just for a second. Gladio bit down against Prompto’s left flank, and time broke into its normal pace again. Prompto’s eyes shut instantly. Prompto held his breath; his body seized up under Gladio's bite, but then he relaxed with one long whine. _“Gladio,”_ Prompto whimpered, hearing the musical tone of his own voice. He felt Gladio’s hands tighten on him; through his shirt, Prompto felt the dull scrape of nails against his skin.

Gladio’s growl was a return of that whimper. Prompto took in a shaky breath and let it out again as another whine. Each exhale was laced with that sweet noise. He could feel that Gladio was merely holding him now. The mark had been made; Prompto felt the tingling over his skin calming down, but they were together like this in a position so intimate. Prompto’s heart was pounding in his chest.

He was so goddamn lucky…

When Gladio drew back from the bite, Prompto’s right hand lessened from the edge of the counter. His fingers were a deep red from his nails to the first knuckle. Prompto’s head was swimming; he was happy for Gladio’s strong grip against his body. The rest of his body relaxed slowly. He blinked to clear his vision, and his fingers left hand lost its tight grip in Gladio’s hair. He started to apologise, but the long rumble from Gladio made him think otherwise. Oh wow… This really happened. 

Prompto was suddenly really happy that Gladio got him a new pair of pants. 

     “ _T… thanks_ , Gladdy."

     “No prob.” Gladio gave Prompto’s hips a squeeze. “ _Call me if anything comes up._ ”

     Prompto nodded his head, taking in a series of slow, deep breaths as that Alphaic authority clouded his mind again. He nodded his head. “Okay."

It didn’t escape Prompto’s notice that Gladio said ‘me’ instead of ‘us’, and his purr was as warm as his smile. He tried not to look too happy with the moment, but damn, it was hard. Gladio came up to stand, and he pulled the shirt down over Prompto’s hips again. They stared at each other. The amber colour of Gladio’s eyes seemed warm and vibrant like gemstones in a flame. Prompto’s own eyes were bright like the sky on a sunny day.

Gladio’s hands were a comforting weight on his hips. Prompto felt himself fighting back and forth between cowardice and bravery, between awed silence and determined talking, and then finally, in one breath, he said,

     “I want you to be my Alpha.”

He was… glad when Gladio didn’t immediately react. The silence wasn't weighted, but Prompto’s anxiey raced up and seized his throat. His purr immediately quieted down to nothingness. Gladio ducked his head and stared down at his right hand where the bite laid underneath. Prompto licked his lips. As the silence drew on, his nervousness melted away into some strange sense of calmness.

     “But… can we– mn.  _Let’s_ talk about this when you all get back, yeah? I… probably shouldn’t’ve said anything before you go off to fight… big scary monsters, y'know, but hey! Can’t take it back now.” 

Gladio gave a little laugh, and then he pulled his hands away from Prompto’s hips. Prompto immediately missed the warmth.

     “No big deal. I won’t get distracted.” Gladio gave Prompto a smirk as he turned around. “I’ll just think of someone trying to ignore that mark, and that’ll fire me up, won’t it?”

     Prompto blinked at Gladio’s back before grabbing the bag off the counter and following after the Alpha. “You’re gonna wipe the floor with ‘em!” he joked as they exited the bathroom.

Gladio raised up his left arm and flexed it. Prompto laughed, straightening up as his purr renewed. As they headed back towards the others, Prompto realised something. Gladio hadn’t said no or turned him down in some other way to talking or even at the prospect of being Prompto’s Alpha. There was hope.

He had a chance…

     Noctis placed his hands on his hips as Gladio and Prompto came into view. “Ready to roll out?” He was smiling.

     Prompto met Noctis’ gaze and nodded. His lips were trembling with the threat of a growing smile. “Ready!”

     Noctis tipped his head to his left, flicking his gaze from Ignis’ feet up to his face. “Well, alright then.”

     “Let’s go.” Ignis motioned forward with two fingers. 

The group headed out of the inn and towards the Regalia. When beside the car, Prompto leaned over to grab his prescription out the glove box and tucked the folded square into his pocket. He lowered his bag of clothes down in front of his seat before stepping back. “I’ll just walk over!” he said to the others as he rounded the car.

     “Seriously, go have fun without me!” 

     “Ya sure we can’t drag you along?” Gladio asked as he held his door open.

     Prompto made a face and then shrugged up a shoulder. “You could, but it wouldn’t be good; I promise you.”

     Gladio huffed and then looked down the road. “Pharmacy’s back that way. Gonna be on this side.” He motioned his hand against the left. “Can’t miss it.”

     “I won’t!"

Prompto waved at his friends with both hands before turning away and heading down the road towards the pharmacy. He hid the grin spreading over his face. This… this was an amazing turn around from how his day started! Prompto tucked forward and hissed “Yes, yes, yes!” quietly over and over to himself. He was so happy; he didn’t even care about the tears building up in his eyes now. All that mattered was one glorious thing:

_He had a chance!_


	7. The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you miss me? Birthday break is over, and now we're back with this.

As Prompto walked to the pharmacy, he could still feel the phantom grip of Gladio’s bite against his hip. Prompto bit down on his lip as he relived the moment between them: the strong hold Gladio had, the pleased growl that rolled through the entire bathroom, and even the sound of his own moans echoing off the walls. It was so… intimate. And it was so much more than Prompto could have expected. He was just glad that nobody walked in on them. Now, _that_ would have been too much! He would have melted out of his skin in some macabre display of overkill embarrassment, leaving Gladio both horrified and amazed. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. 

Prompto brought his hands to his cheeks, rubbing them repeatedly as he hummed happily to himself. He was marked now! That was a step in the right direction! Well, maybe he was still expecting too much. Gladio hadn’t said anything in response to Prompto’s confession. And while that wasn’t a rejection, it sure as hell wasn’t acceptance either. Prompto bit down on his lip as he brought his hands down in front of himself. A moment of worry crept into his mind, but then it was instantly pushed away by Prompto’s relentless hope. He shook his head and balled his hands into fists. He just had to be positive! Regardless of what happened, Prompto still carried Gladio’s mark on his body. And that’s what was important here.

The pharmacy came up on Prompto’s left. He angled towards the entrance and pushed the door opened with both hands. A bell chimed over his head as he entered. Prompto could see that there were a few patrons inside already. There was a couple standing between two bookshelves, and a brunet walking slowly along the wall to Prompto’s left. None of them looked over at him, and that, he felt, was a good thing. Prompto felt along his pockets. When he found his prescription, he pulled the paper out and took it between his hands. He looked around curiously, trying to find someone that looked like they worked here. No one that he could see so far. Hm, well… There was no real rush. The others were off bounty hunting, and he was here on his own. Guess there was no harm in just looking around.

Prompto went to his right, following along the wall. There were different blankets and drapes on display. Prompto reached up to run his fingers along a light pink sheer fabric and ‘aah’ed softly at the texture. Below the shelves was a long display table with pillows. Each column of pillows was labeled: “extra soft”, “soft”, “moderate”, “firm”, “extra firm”. There were “extra, extra soft” and “extra, extra firm” columns, but there weren’t many. Upon touching them, Prompto wasn’t entirely fond of either one. Though, he could see how they could be valuable additions to a nest. At the connecting wall, there was a larger table filled with various knick knacks specifically geared towards nesting. There were stress balls, crystals, cleaning rags, keepsake jars for herbs or food or whatever was needed, and numerous other things. 

Nesting was comfortable. It was one of the best perks about going into heat, he figured. Of course, one didn’t _need_ a reason to create a nest, but Prompto found he always enjoyed waiting out his heat more when he had a nest to curl up in. But… it had been at least a year since he created one. He rubbed his hand along his side and blushed slightly. Maybe he wouldn’t need to wait much longer.

     “Ah!” He groaned out loud, tightening his hand over his side before lowering it away. “What am I thinking?”

He stared longingly at the nesting items before pulling his head away. Prompto walked blindly for a few steps before the curtained doorway was thrown open with a flourish. Prompto looked in surprised at this newcomer, a very obvious Beta from the scent. They wore rounded glasses perched at the end of their nose. Their hair had two tones of blue in it, which complimented the deep tone of their skin. A thick braid wrapped around their forehead towards the back while the rest of their hair was wrapped up in a bun, which the braid then mixed into. Around their shoulders hung a long grey scarf that fell down to their knees. They wore multiple monochromatic layers, looking more like a forest child that a simple store purveyor. Eyes like onyx and stardust flicked over towards Prompto, and the Beta smiled.

     “Hello,” the Beta greeted.

     Prompto smiled and unfolded his prescription. “Hey, ah… I was wondering if you could help me out with something.”

     “Sure thing.” The Beta stepped closer and looked down to the sheet that Prompto gestured with.

     “I have a problem with the suppressants I got in another city.”

     “What type of suppressants? Are they for… heat? To control ruts? Feral temperments?”

The Beta’s _R_ s rolled beautifully off their tongue. Prompto glanced up to them as they spoke and then tipped his gaze down a little. His eyes landed on a name tag: Bellini. 

     “They’re… kind of heat suppressants? It’s mostly just to prevent… burdening,” Prompto admitted hesitantly.

     Bellini didn’t seem phased. They took the sheet from Prompto and adjusted their glasses. “Right, right… I do believe we have this line of birth control. Come this way.”

Bellini turned without looking, and Prompto followed just a step after. He heard them softly reading the information aloud. They lowered the paper and gestured for Prompto to stand in front of the counter. Bellini ducked down the narrow hall to the right, entered through a door to the left, and after a moment, reemerged in the back room behind the counter. They stopped just in Prompto’s view. They twiddled their fingers in the air before typing information into a computer; Prompto watched quietly. He heard something fall behind him but didn’t turn. Only when he felt someone’s butt bump against his did he twist back just a touch.

     The other packmind stood up and gave a nervous little laugh while flicking shaggy brown hair out of his eyes. “Sorry about that.” He wiggled a book in the air. “Dropped this.”

     “No worries,” Prompto said with a smile.

Prompto met the other’s gaze. The slow, easy smile reminded him of Gladio in a way. He crossed his right hand over his stomach, cupping his hip where the bite mark was, and relaxed slightly. He grit his teeth to keep himself from keening softly at the memory. He motioned towards the book with his other hand. 

     “What’s that you’re reading?”

     The brunet looked to the book. “It’s an adventure book called Hazard LINE. The author actually used to live around here.”

     “Really?” Prompto canted his head curiously.

     “Mhm. So, it’s one of those things were you wouldn’t know unless you met them; though, I still don’t know what they presented as, even now.” The brunet gave a little smile. “Makes me feel better about myself.”

     “How s—“

     “Mr. Argentum?”

     Prompto gave an apologetic smile when his name was called. “Sorry.”

     The other male shook his head and softly said, “It’s fine."

Prompto turned around and leaned against the counter, bracing his weight down onto his left forearm. He kneaded his hand against his side. Bellini gently set down the prescription sheet onto the counter. Their left hand hovered over it with a red pen in a loose grip.

     “You said that you had a problem with this medicine. What was it, exactly, that you had problems with?"

Prompto started to speak, but then he looked over his shoulder to glance back at the other male he was speaking to just a moment ago. The brunet packmind was focused on the books again. Prompto idly stroked his fingers over the counter. He looked back to Bellini and leaned closer, dropping his voice to a more secretive tone.

     “Well, with my last dose, the one before this, I would have heat symptoms, but my actual heat never started. The symptoms would only last for a day, day and a half, you know?” Prompto tettered his free hand left and right. Bellini looked at him, slightly squinting their eyes as they nodded in understanding. “And then, I tried this dosage. I’ve only been taking it for two, three weeks? Something like that?”

     “And do you have the paper for this new prescription?”

     “It’s not…?” Prompto touched at the paper he gave to Bellini. Standing up, he patted over his pockets, digging through and whispering, “Come on, come on, come on…” in rapid succession under his breath. When he found a smaller folded paper in his right pocket, he let out a long sigh of relief. He unfolded it and slid it over to Bellini. “Looks like I do.”

The pharmacist laughed softly and turned the paper around to better read it. They ran an index finger over a piece of information; their left hand tapped the pen against the matching data on the first sheet that Prompto handed over. Bellini’s gaze patiently went back and forth between the two. Prompto waited quietly, ready to answer any question the pharmacist had— 

Oh.

     Bellini frowned as they lifted up the second sheet closer to their face. They squinted a bit and shook their head in disbelief. “That can’t be right,” they muttered. They piled the two papers together and then looked to Prompto. “Have you had any side effects?”

     “Not– not really. I mean, I had some pain. Discomfort, especially in my stomach area.”

     “And you said this was going on for two weeks?”

     “Not the entire two weeks!” Prompto corrected, speaking nervously and therefore a bit louder. “Just here and there.”

     “I see.”

     “I-is everything okay?”

     “This is a bit stronger than your usual type.” Bellini set the papers down once more, turning them to face Prompto. “You were initially prescribed this amount in Sundercroft. And _this_ –” On the smaller sheet of paper, they underlined the dosage that Prompto was taking now, “–is what they _prescribed_  even though they have your original dose here.” They circled a number a couple of lines down. Prompto frowned as well. Bellini gathered the papers and stood up straight. “I’ll be right back.”

     “Ah… Thank you!"

Bellini hummed in the affirmative as they stepped into the back room. Prompto set his elbows onto the counter and ran his fingers through his hair. Well… at least this was being dealt with. He let out a long sigh and brought his hands down to the surface. He stared at the back of his hands, spotting the few freckles he had on each. Some freckles were darker than others. He traced over a line of them on the back of his right hand. When Bellini came back, they set down a paper in front of him and offered out a pen. 

     “Sign this, please.”

     “Mmkay.” 

     “I should have something for you tomorrow or the day after if you’re able to come back. Have you taken the other pills already?”

     “I’m good for another two weeks,” Prompto said after signing his name quickly. He handed the pen back. 

     “Good and also bad.” Bellini gestured with the pen. “Good, because, well, you’re covered. If you have a mate, then you won’t have to worry too much about any ‘mishaps’ so long as you’re both adaquately prepared.”

     “I, uh… We– Uhm.” Prompto cleared his throat suddenly as he straightened up. “No problem about that,” he mumbled quickly, looking up to Bellini with a bashful look and furrowed brow.

     Bellini smirked at him but showed some mercy and merely nodded. “Also, bring those pills with you tomorrow. We’ll take care of those.”

     “Okay. Thanks a lot.”

They shook hands, and Bellini handed him over a carbon copy of the newest prescription. It was cleanly typed on fresh, unfolded paper. He rubbed his fingers over it, quietly reading over everything that was typed up. 

     “All of your original information is copied over,” Bellini stated. “In fact…” They took the paper back and made a square around Prompto’s drug dosage. “… Just for future reference.”

     Prompto laughed gently and began folding the paper. “Thanks. Mind if I… walk around?” He circled around with his right index finger.

     “Go ahead. I’ll be here if you need anything.”

     Prompto nodded. “Thanks."

He turned around and faced the fully stocked bookshelves behind him. He walked up and down each one, but he wasn’t entirely interested in what they had. He wondered if Gladio would have liked any of them… He was really interested in reading; too bad Prompto didn’t really know what kind of books he liked. He sucked on his bottom lip briefly. After drawing his attention away, Prompto looked around the rest of the store. Ah. There was still that curtained area that Bellini originally came out of. He hadn’t looked through there yet.

Prompto glanced towards the counter as if he was about to do something he shouldn’t have and then started making his way towards the curtain. When he approached, he stroked his finger over the fabric. It was dark blue with black stars. Prompto smiled a little; it was cute. He looked over his shoulder one last time and went past the curtain. He was greeted with the sight of a small boutique. There were standing signs for each section, but like Gladio had said, it wasn’t a very big selection. 

What they did have was nice though. He made sure to properly fold and tuck his prescription sheet away, slotting it into his back pocket where it would be safe. He then touched over a pair of pants in the Alpha section and wondered if he could get away with the style once he was off his heat. He held up the maroon coloured jeans against his front and hummed. Seemed like it would be a loose fit against him. He wondered if Iggy would help out with that.

He folded up the jeans and set them down on their display. He walked past the different sections, moving further into the store before he spotted… an entirely new section off in the upper right of the room. There were four locked glass-paned cabinets above an L-shaped table. Prompto could see sex toys of different types locked up safely. The table had different collars, restrains, and harnesses. Prompto stopped in front of the different collars. Gladio must have seen these while he was buying Prompto new clothes, right? Without thinking, Prompto reached out and touched a smoke grey collar with an O-ring dangling from it. 

Would… Gladio ever consider buying one of these? The idea of Prompto wearing one that Gladio got for him made him a shudder, but there was a greater appeal in Gladio wearing a collar of his own. Prompto sighed quietly; a tiny whine followed the noise.

     “Personally, I think this one is your style,” came another voice.

Prompto spun immediately towards the voice and saw it was that brunet bookworm again! He felt himself blush harder. 

     “I didn’t– Really? I mean.” Prompto laughed uncertainly as he tried to pull his thoughts together. Sure, he was nervous, but he set his mind on a very interesting course. And now, his heat was determined to hold onto the thought of Gladio wearing that collar. Prompto could perfectly imagine the O-ring resting against the top of Gladio’s muscled chest. He pulled his hand away and curled his fingers behind his back.

     “Never really figured myself for a collar kinda guy,” Prompto said weakly.

     “I feel that way sometimes.” The brunet smiled and then extended out a hand. “I’m Carian.”

     “Carian. Call me Prom.”

     “Prom? That’s cute.”

When their hands withdrew, Prompto moved his own to his hip, covering over the bite mark. He swore he could feel the bite throb with a fresh dull pain. Carian frowned slightly when he noticed.

     “Everything okay? I heard your, uh, problem with your prescription.” He motioned around the room. “That’s why I came back here, to give you some privacy. But… Are you okay? Do you need help with anything?”

     “I’m fine.” Prompto bit the inside of his cheek and gave a weak smile.

     Carian eyed him cautiously but stayed where he was. “You sure?”

     “I’ve… got the tables to hold me up if I really need it.”

     Carian nodded slowly. “Yeah… Seems pretty sturdy.”

He then walked closer, running his fingers over the O-ring curiously. Prompto was suddenly so much more aware of the other’s scent. It was very, very faint as if it was being contained. He could sense Carian’s want; it was mixed with something more innocent, something friendlier. Friendly, Prompto could deal with, but in this state of mind… He felt himself leaning closer and then there was that throb in his side again. Ah, he was getting too close. Upon realising that, Prompto squeezed his hand tight over the bite mark. A little whine left him. Before that noise faded into obscurity, there was a subtle change in Carian’s demeanor.

The want grew; it was more noticeable now. It had its own presence to it– crisp like a winter morning. Prompto took in a breath through parted lips, letting that scent absorb into him. He could feel the shift. The soft chill grew into something colder, something more captivating. Carian was a Beta– he was shifting into an Alpha state. 

Prompto tore himself away suddenly, bringing his hands up into his hair. He clutched at the blond strands, grounding him to this new reality. Carian blinked at him suddenly. Wine coloured eyes that were once shining were now back to their powerless, mundane state. The oncoming blizzard of Carian’s aura relaxed into something softer once again. Prompto laughed breathlessly at his accomplishment. He startled the Beta back to normal! _Good_. 

     “Great,” he said out loud. His lips twitched with a nervous smile, and he looked back to Carian. “Nice meeting you!” With that, Prompto hurried past, trying to collect himself.

     “Y-you— wait a sec!” 

Prompto whipped around and looked to Carian, who looked apologetic but also a little lost.

     “Sorry if I…”

     Prompto raised up a hand. “It’s… okay.” He curled his fingers towards his palm and shook his head. "I have to go.”

He gave a small smile, equally as apologetic, but then he turned away quickly. He couldn’t stand to be here anymore. He hurried past the curtain and looked to the counter where Bellini stood in view, reading something with their glasses perched on the edge of their nose.

     “Thanks again!” Prompto called out, waving when Bellini looked in his direction.

     “See you tomorrow?”

     “Hopefully!”

Prompto smiled and looked towards the front door. He didn’t disguise how he hurried to the exit, pulling it open and breathing in the fresh air. The sunlight warmed him, completely removing the wintery chill that retained a faint grasp on his mind. He stared towards the inn. It would have been better for him to wait for the others there. They would have known where he was, but… What if he ran into Carian again? What if he ran into another packmind who would have caught onto his scent? What if they… what if they tried to seduce him as that one Alpha had a little while ago? What if they touched on Prompto’s side and felt that bite mark—?

Prompto trembled, imagining an unfamiliar touch on his form. Gladio would be mad, so mad that someone he marked was being touched so inappropriately. The blond blinked blearily, and he slowed his steps. He couldn’t stay out here… He needed to get back to the camp. He closed his eyes and collected himself. It took a lot of his will power to push against the influence of his heat. _Just for a little longer_ , he compromised with his instincts. _Just a little longer and I promise_ …

Promise what? It was hard to barter with himself when his body slowly yearned for one thing– for one person. _Gladio_. It was like a sharp sting through his sense. He swallowed down a whimper that wanted to go free. “Nope,” he said aloud with a hard shake of his head. He staggered to the inn and pulled open the doors. He wasn’t sure how successful he was at appearing natural as he strolled up to the front desk. He hoped he just looked drunk, exhausted, or something other than desperate, which he so deeply felt. One of the women looked at him with a hint of concern. Prompto pulled up a smile. It felt unnatural. He stopped.

     “Do you think I could hail a cab?”

     “Sure… Would you like us to call you one?”

     “If you don’t mind,” Prompto said, but his mind begged, _Hurry_.

She picked up the phone and quickly dialed a cab for him. She gave his description, staring at him worriedly before nodding and finishing off the transaction. Before Prompto could hurry off, she called for him to stop. “Just a moment.” She leaned closer towards her coworker, asking for an appointment book. Prompto felt his stomach tense up. His legs felt weak underneath him. He leaned his weight forward against the desk. A card was then handed over to him. The date was set for tomorrow with a specific time and room number written on it.

     “If you need anything… we’ll have a room opening around this time. You can call ahead to make sure it’s ready.”

_“Thank you,”_ Prompto breathed, taking the card from the generous receptionist. 

Prompto stood up straight, and he saw another of the women glancing at him. Her look was equally as worried, but there was something more understanding about it. Prompto gave a simple nod of his head. If he hurried, he’d be okay. He clenched onto the card as he walked away, sighing as heavy as the 'if' itself.

He felt welcomed by the Sun once again, but at this point, it felt as if his body was absorbing the warmth. He reached up to tug the collar of his shirt down further, trying to allow his skin to breathe. He blinked barely opened eyes and wasn’t sure how much longer it was before the cab pulled up in front of him. Two quick honks pulled him back to the world, and Prompto rubbed his eyes.

     “You okay, pal?”

     “I’m _fine_ ; ‘m fine.” Prompto scrambled for the door, fumbling with the handle before entering inside. “Just– came from a bounty. ‘m still feeling lightheaded.” 

     “Augh.” The cab driver scrunched up his nose and glanced up into the rear view mirror. "What’d you fight?” 

     Prompto’s mind briefly sorted through all the enemies he fought. “It was an Imp… Wraith thing? It was really weird. Body of an Imp– ugly, ugly patterns all over.”

     “Tell me where that is so I can stay the hell away.”

A weak laugh. Prompto leaned his head against the glass. The smile faded almost instantly. He wanted to melt away.

     “So,” the cab driver began. "Where to?”

     “Heading to camp.” The words took a lot of effort to say. “I… kinda know how to get there.”

He had to scrape his mind to trace all of the landmarks. He remembered the service station. Getting the cab driver to that point was the easy part. After that, Prompto was left vaguely describing other buildings. He could only grasp fragments of images. The cab driver asked him questions, which _helped_ but also _didn’t_. Prompto grit his teeth tight, feeling a painful craving climb through his form. It was starting… His heat was officially starting, and there was nothing he could do about it.

_Hurry_ , he wanted to plead. _Hurry, please hurry_. But sense was leaving him slowly. He wrapped his arms around himself; his hand tightened over the mark as if it was his only sense of security. At least his own scent wasn’t getting out of control; otherwise, he’d be in a new kind of trouble. Thank the Six for Gladio biting him.  _“Gladio,”_ Prompto sighed weakly. He licked his lips and opened his eyes, staring at the stretch of land on either side of the road. AH! He knew where they were now. 

_“Stop here,”_ he said, pulling himself up into a proper sitting position, and oh _god_. There was a sweat mark from where his forehead was. He brought his hand up to his face, pushing back the sweaty hair from his face. 

The cab stopped slowly, and the driver turned back. Prompto searched for his wallet. His fingers were too dumb to work properly. He fumbled with the tight space but was ridiculously overjoyed when he could grasp enough money. It was more than enough– maybe too much. Ignis could yell at him later if he felt like it.

     “Look, pal. We don’t have much in-town, but we can take care of ya if you need a healer.”

     “I’m fine. Really. Nothing a good sleep won’t fix.” Prompto reached blindly for the handle with one hand and popped open the door. Boom, first try. “Thanks a lot. Great day have one!”

WIth that, Prompto pulled himself out of the cab. He slammed the door shut and began walking in some direction. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. When he opened his eyes, he could see things with a sharper clarity. His instincts scratched at the inside of his mind, clawing at him for his attention. Prompto began walking, driven now by some force greater than himself. 

_Gladio… Gladio_.  

His fingers reached for his phone, and he was barely aware of the message he typed out. When he came across the camp, he dove straight into the tent. He grasped for Gladio’s clothing bag. He tugged the item closer to himself as he collapsed in the spot where Gladio usually slept. Prompto’s mouth fell opened as moans and huffs left him. Yes, this was what he needed. Ah, this was what he _wanted!_ The Alpha’s scent helped dull some of the more desperate urgency, but there was still that need, that fiendish need he couldn’t ignore. Prompto pulled out Gladio’s clothes, bringing them close to his face as he buried himself in the other male’s scent. 

He felt his phone vibrated against his stomach, but he couldn’t be bothered to answer it. Prompto clawed at his own shirt, tugging it up his form and moving his hand to his side. He dug into the bite and sang in a musical, Omega tone. Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes as he called out again, not caring if the noise went ignored. He couldn’t think on whether or not he would have Gladio– he had all he needed right here. For now. It was a temporary solution. 

Too bad, it was a shitty one.

     “ _Gladio_ ……” He keened, gritting his teeth. His glimmering blue eyes clenched tightly closed. He balled his fist into the clothing and buried his face into them. In a way, Gladio was with him. And for now, that was close to enough.

 

      _“Prompto!”_

Prompto's snapped open. He had fallen asleep in his weakened state. He rolled more onto his back, looking for all the world as helpless as he still felt. His tears had dried on his cheeks. His fingers were red from how tightly he held onto Gladio’s clothing. When he looked up, he saw the Alpha kneeling nearby and staring at him. The amber eyes burned warmly. Gladio stared at him with lips parted. Prompto was overwhelmed by Gladio’s aura; his scent was the remedy for Prompto’s mania– but it was also a toxin.

_“Gladio… I need you,”_ Prompto whimpered. Suddenly, he was so aware that things had been left unsaid. They were supposed to talk. They still had to—

     “I’m right here,” Gladio said. His voice had a telltale rumble; he didn’t even try to hide it. He pulled Prompto into his arms, and the overheated Omega melted into him. _“I’ll take care of you.”_

     “I know you will.” Prompto panted. _“Please,”_ he whispered, wrapping his arms around Gladio’s neck.

Gladio responded in the only way that mattered. He swept forward to take Prompto into a hard kiss. Prompto moaned against him. In the moment of overwhelming need and dizzying heat, Prompto felt nothing but relief.


	8. An Answer Worth Waiting For

When Prompto felt strong hands on his hips and the possessive graze of sharpened teeth against his neck, the relief he felt was beyond words. A needy whine escaped him; it was sweet and pleading and finely attuned to Gladio’s senses. It was a mating call  _just_ for the Alpha he pined after for so long. More noises followed the sweetly made whine, moans and keens that expressed Prompto’s every desire.

_Kiss me._

_Bite me._

_Take me._

_Claim me._

The last desire was perhaps the truest of them all. Prompto wanted to be claimed as  _Gladio’s_ and no one else’s. In his normal mindset, it was weird to want to belong to someone. He wanted to be friends with people, sure. He had a puppy love crush on Cindy (which, technically, he _still_ had), but he couldn’t say that he wanted to belong to her. He didn’t think that there was a part of him that ever wanted to _submit_ to her. With Gladio, it was different. It was something that Prompto would swear that, in this moment, he needed like eating and oxygen.  _Please, please,_ his instincts begged. _Claim me_. 

He felt Gladio’s hands slide under his shirt. Gladio’s fingers grazed under his ribs and traced almost ticklish lines downward. Warm palms came to rest over his hips just on top of the stretch marks. One hand rested over where the bite mark was. Prompto licked his lips as he reached up to lace his fingers into Gladio’s hair. He tried to stay still as the Alpha felt him, as Gladio took in his now overpowering scent, but it was hard. With Gladio being so close, Prompto’s every instinct begged for a connection. Hell, damn near demanded it. Prompto tipped his head towards Gladio, tugging the Alpha closer to him, and some remote part of his mind was amazed when Gladio allowed it. 

Prompto purred and closed his eyes at the further closeness. Gladio’s scent was odd; it lacked a particular smell, but it had a very unique presence. Right now, it had a calming effect as Prompto’s manic desperation wasn’t as bad as when he was on his own. It was more like incessant nagging. He could deal with that. And on top of that, Gladio was matching Prompto’s neediness with a tender slowness. Prompto chuffed impatiently and then tacked on a loving little noise right at the end. He could be sweet; he could be anything Gladio wanted. It was just that right now he wanted to be fulfilled.

Gladio turned his hands and shifted his hold. His fingers brushed over Prompto’s lower back. Prompto sighed at the touch, and upon feeling another graze of teeth against his neck, Prompto leaned his head back and bared the full of his neck to Gladio. Another bite— oh, that would be divine. He tightened his fingers in the dark locks, tugging Gladio closer. He didn’t want to let go.

_“Prompto,”_ Gladio stated. 

Just like that, the Omega froze in place. The call of his name drew his attention to Gladio immediately, but there was also an unspoken command that was woven into the firm tone that went against what Prompto wanted at the moment:  _Let go_. There was a split second of hesitation combatting inate desires, but Prompto did as he was told. Gladio growled in his throat, pleased by the obedience. He pressed a kiss just under Prompto’s ear and sighed out of his nose. Prompto shuddered when he felt the sigh against his ear. He tightened his grip on the bedroll underneath their bodies. Gladio made a curious noise and lifted his head, blowing softly against Prompto’s ear again. The Omega closed his eyes and whimpered. “Aah,” Gladio said in amusement. That was all it took.

Prompto felt Gladio move back, and then his shirt was tugged over his head, exposing his pale and freckled upper body to the Alpha above him. Warm hands found Prompto’s hips again. Prompto gasped at the contact as if were new to him, especially with his eyes closed. But, the real surprise was next. It wasn’t long before he felt a tongue run along the side of his ear. That contact made Prompto moan once more. Prompto’s hands jerked up to find Gladio’s shoulder, but they hesitated and fell back to the bedroll once again. “Gladio…” Prompto whined as Gladio teased him; he arched his back when Gladio nibbled his ear. Pleasure coursed through his entire body, making him gasp and scratch desperately at the bedroll. He wanted to touch, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed. 

He reached up to stroke a hand longingly against Gladio’s forearm, and it was then, for a reason that Prompto wasn’t immediately sure of, that the Alpha began making his way down Prompto’s body. Each kiss and nip was slow and intentional. It was a definite contrast from the desperation that Prompto felt so acutely, but he didn’t despair. Gladio’s scent was all around him, calming his mind and curbing the immediate poutiness of not getting what he so badly needed. But as the calmness set in and as Gladio undressed him, Prompto realised that Gladio was…… appreciating him. The Alpha was taking his time to learn the curves of Prompto’s body and memorise the Omega’s scent. 

Gladio parted Prompto’s legs and came down onto his stomach. He cupped his hands under Prompto’s thighs and pushed the blond’s legs up and then open. Prompto opened his eyes. Oh– He brought a hand to his mouth. He sat up a bit, pushing himself up with his right forearm and rocking his weight back onto his elbow. He sighed out a shuddering breath against his trembling fingers. Gladio brushed his lips against the muscle of Prompto’s thighs. The touch of chapped lips and Gladio's beard made Prompto moan quietly. Strong hands massaged at him to keep him relaxed, but all it did was made Prompto produce more slick. Gladio groaned as a fresh wave of Prompto’s scent wafted up to his nose. He turned his head towards the source, and Prompto immediately closed his eyes.

He was’t sure why, if it was embarrassment or just a reaction, but it turned out that having his eyes closed when he felt Gladio’s tongue against him was a great idea. He tipped more towards his right side and soon slumped his weight down until he was lying down once again, his face pressed against the crook of his arm. At first, Gladio tasted him slowly. He cleaned up the thin veil of slick coating Prompto’s skin. He dragged his teeth against the inside of Prompto’s legs and growled peacefully at the taste. After, he moved his hands lower to spread Prompto open. Prompto whined when he felt Gladio’s tongue move lower. The Alpha’s tongue took long, dragging sweeps over his hole. And at one stroke, Gladio pressed the tip of his tongue inside of Prompto— there was little resistance. Gladio groaned between Prompto’s legs and tightened his hold. 

Prompto grabbed at the bedroll. His nails pulled and tugged at the fabric as he cried out into the air. It didn’t take long for Gladio to pick up his pace and start eating out Prompto with vigor. The blond moaned helplessly. He moved his hands to Gladio’s hair, not caring for the consequences. He spread his legs as much as he was allowed and rocked himself against the Alpha’s face. “Gladio, _Gladio!”_ he called out, gasping as Gladio met his enthusiastic movements. He felt the calming influence of Gladio’s scent withdraw. No, it was better to say that he felt it change. He could feel the shift, and suddenly, his heat was upon him again, turning his thoughts into incomprehensible noise.

“Gladi— ah, _ah…_ ” Prompto’s voice cracked with a moan. He curled his toes and lifted his hips up, giving Gladio a better angle. _“Right there…_ ” His brows knit tightly together.

Gladio reached up to pin Prompto’s hips back down against the bedroll. He moved his head up to suck at Prompto’s balls, drawing the sac into his mouth and working his tongue over each sensitive curve. The tension of stomach muscles as much of a warning Prompto had and could give before he came undone from such simple treatment. His cum dribbled down the length of his slender cock and onto the bridge of Gladio’s nose. Another growl. Prompto could heard the Alpha’s satisfaction in the noise. Gladio allowed Prompto a few more moments of sustained pleasure before he pulled up.

Prompto felt weak, satisfied– but only barely so. He opened his eyes to watch Gladio’s next movements. Gladio barely opened his eyes as he set his hands on either side of Prompto’s head. He bowed his head and said, “Clean up, pup,” in a low and calm voice. Even without the influence, Prompto felt compelled to obey. ‘Pup…’ Being called such a thing would have been embarrassing. But not right now. He took Gladio’s head between his hands and leaned up. He licked over the line of cum that draped over Gladio’s nose. When he was done, he touched their foreheads together and whined for Gladio’s attention Before the noise was competed, Gladio lifted his head and took Prompto in a kiss.

Prompto was weak under the aggressive kiss, and their tongues ran against one another. Gladio nipped at Prompto’s bottom lip, and without thinking, Prompto found his fingers once again threaded in the Alpha’s dark hair. When the kiss broke, Prompto was allowed to catch his breath. His fingers slipped out of Gladio’s hair as the Alpha straightened up to undress. Prompto watched for a bit before his eyes fell closed because of a new sensation. As the clothes fell from Gladio’s body, the overwhelming Alpha scent grew, mixing in with Prompto’s sweeter essence.  

Prompto mewled when Gladio’s hands groped at him again. They moved down his chest, over his stomach, and then there was a _hard_ grab on his left side, right where the bite mark was. Prompto gasped. His mind replayed Gladio scent-marking him in the bathroom. The imagery was mercilessly vivid, and this time, there was no fear of anyone walking in on them. There was only the pleasure of Gladio’s bite and the dominating reverberation of his growl. The heightened memory made Prompto moan out loud. He moved his hand down to his cock and began jerking himself off. He got in a couple of satisfying tugs before he heard another growl, and this one was so much closer than the one in the bathroom had been.

Prompto gave a trembling sigh when he felt Gladio’s lips trail along his jaw from the underside of his ear to his chin. And then when a hand tightened around his wrist and pulled it away, Prompto whimpered softly. His eyes opened, and he stared up to meet Gladio’s gaze.

Gladio smiled, a lazy smile with fangs just visible past pretty lips. “You should be patient,” he teased. He laughed when Prompto narrowed his eyes; at least Prompto had the wherewithal to react in another way that wasn’t so blantly  _“Fuck me”_. For now, at least. Prompto felt their fingers lace together, and his eyes closed tightly when Gladio kissed him. It was a soft peak of lips, just one and then one more. Gladio teased Prompto with the brief touches as he squeezed his hand over Prompto’s side. 

“Did anyone come after you?” Gladio asked, kneading his fingers possessively over the bite.

“No,” Prompto said softly. And then he paused. He huffed a little whimper and then turned his head away. “Well…”

The Alpha scent thickened, and Prompto could feel the change in atmosphere. Gladio, though he hadn’t changed externally, had risen to an unspoken challenge.

_“Well?”_

Prompto’s heart leapt with excitement. He looked up to Gladio and licked his lips slowly. He raised his free hand up to Gladio’s forearm. Gladio’s growl started in his chest and passed through his entire form; Prompto could feel the tremor of it under his hand. Ah, well, he had better start talking. Prompto swallowed down a nervous lump in his throat, trying to fight through the growing haze of his lust to form the right words.

“I met a Beta, and… he was sweet, and he just… Well. We were looking at collars– first, there were books!– and he said that- that I would look nice if I got the one I—"

Gladio pinned both of Prompto’s hands to the ground, on either side of the blond’s head. The Alpha leaned in closer. Prompto felt his own thighs lifting up as Gladio’s legs slid under his. The tip of Gladio’s cock pressed against Prompto’s entrance. It was all too easy for Prompto to work his hips down and feel his hole stretch ever so slightly around the head of Gladio’s cock. It was a tease, and it made him hungry for more, but Gladio was completely in control of the pace.

_“And?”_ Gladio pressed, curiosity overshadowed by possessiveness.

“A-And he… he… he shifted.” Prompto was breathless. They hadn’t even done anything, but admitting this to Gladio was… thrilling. "He didn’t know about the bite, but he shifted. Oh,  _his scent_ …”

Prompto’s eyelids fluttered closed for a second as he remembered that crisp and chilling scent. Carian’s presence wasn’t like anything Prompto had ever smelled or noticed before. Remembering it made him weak and made him sigh in admiration, which was _just_ not the right thing to do in front of dear Gladio. Teeth grazed over the right side of Prompto’s neck, and before Prompto had a chance to react, Gladio sank his teeth down into the curve of Prompto’s shoulder. A noise caught in Prompto’s throat and then he let it out as a long Omega whine. Gladio shuddered bodily against Prompto, but he held the bite. Prompto felt as if he was going to cum again.

_“Gl– Gladio…”_ He panted, wanting to hold onto the Alpha so very badly, but his hands were pinned down. Gladio withdrew, and Prompto winced at the loss. Gladio brushed his lips over Prompto’s and thrust his hips forward, sheathing his cock inside of Prompto.  _“_ F- _fuck…”_ Prompto dragged out the word with uneven syllables. Gladio stretched him wonderfully, and he was barely a few inches in.

“How many times should I mark you?” Gladio growled as he drew his hips back. He thrust forward again, burying more of himself inside. 

Prompto felt tears building in the corners of his eyes. His mouth opened for a response; his jaw bobbed uselessly when the words didn’t form. That didn’t stop Gladio from speaking his mind. 

“Maybe once more, maybe a few more times. Or maybe _I should leave my scent on you,_ so no one else is confused.”

Gladio’s words pierced Prompto’s mind. Prompto closed his mouth and nodded, several whimpers leaving him. Yes, yes. That’s what he wanted, more than anything!! He turned his head towards Gladio and whined in his ear. _Please_ , the whine begged so deeply and so earnestly. Gladio groaned and stretched their bodies, forcing Prompto’s arms up more until his curled hands touched the edge of the tent. Thankfully, Gladio bared most of his weight back on his knees. He still kept a pretty strong hold on Prompto’s wrists, and every accompanying thrust made Prompto want to fight back less and less.

“God, Prompto,” Gladio groaned over the wet sound of their fucking. “You’re so wet– I can’t believe it…” 

“Ah—! I…” Prompto tried to reply. He opened his eyes, and fat tears rolled down his cheeks. He felt too good. His entire body sang with pleasure, and Gladio was only making him feel better with every thrust. “I want you…” He managed instead.

“I’m right here,” Gladio assured, lifting his head to kiss at the tears.

Prompto huffed another whimper and shook his head. “I want you to _be my Alpha_.” His words changed without his thinking, once again expressing that honesty that would have otherwise embarrassed him to admit so freely, but right now, he wanted an answer. Some kind, any kind. “Please,” he whispered.

Gladio slowed his thrusts just for a few seconds, and then he went back to his pace. “Want me to knot you?”

The suggestion made Prompto sigh weakly. _More than anything,_ he thought. “Yes…” he said.

Gladio drew out then, and he flipped Prompto onto his stomach. Prompto went easily, but he pulled himself up onto his knees and presented himself. He reached a hand back, fingers shaking, and spread himself open for Gladio. He bit down on his bottom lip. He looked back to see Gladio staring at him, just for a second, and then the Alpha silently accepted the offering. Prompto felt Gladio’s cock against his fingertips as it slid back into him. Gladio pushed Prompto’s hands away, and Prompto folded his arms under his head. Gladio’s hands came to rest on the ground, his arms touching near Prompto’s ribs.

The first thrust was the deepest. Gladio was merely testing how far he could go without any signs of discomfort from Prompto, who only touched his head to his forearms and whimpered needily. A pull back and Gladio began the pace he had before. He changed his angles subtly, trying to fuck Prompto in the best possible way—

“AH—!” Prompto grasped at the bedroll. His nails scratched along the fabric. Without any sort of teasing, Gladio leaned in and pressed a kiss between Prompto’s shoulder blades, right on top of a cloud of freckles. He bowed his back and hammered into the spot that made Prompto cry out. Prompto’s moans hitched. Words failed him; now, there was only the honest sounds of his enjoyment. When he came again, he tightened around Gladio’s shaft. He felt his legs want to give out, but he stayed upright. The thrusts stopped as Gladio gave Prompto a chance to recover. Prompto dragged his face along his forearm, smearing tears along his skin.

After a few quickened heartbeats, Prompto panted, “ _More…_ ”

Gladio was happy to oblige. He picked up his speed again, and Prompt mewled from how sensitive he was. When he felt Gladio slow down, he reached a hand to grab the Alpha’s wrist. “No!” was all he could say in a single breath. The speed returned, and Prompto cried, heart and soul, for the Alpha he adored. Cumming again made Prompto sob. This time, Gladio pulled out and rutted against Prompto’s lower back. He shushed the blond, kissed at freckled skin, and stroked a tender hand down Prompto’s side. He waited for the tears to stop before leaning down to coax Prompto into a kiss. Prompto rocked to the side and kissed Gladio gratefully, passionately, adoringly— any emotion he could convey with such a simple action. 

“Again,” Prompto said; his voice was shaking now.

“You sure?”

“Again– _please_.” Prompto moved his hand from Gladio’s wrist up to his face. “I can take it.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Gladio turned his head and kissed Prompto’s palm. _“Present.”_

Prompto’s hand fell away immediately. He touched his forehead to the bedroll and clasped his hands together just above his head. He spread his legs as much as he could in a position that was comfortable and practical for their mating. Now when Gladio slid in, Prompto felt that it was _familiar_ now. He bit his lip to keep himself from smiling like a loon. Midway through their new round, Gladio brought his hand to Prompto’s stomach. He held the blond there and gave a pleasured groan against the back of Prompto’s neck.

“Next time,” Gladio started, “we’ll fuck like we want a litter.”

Prompto was dumbfounded; he nodded his head. “The only…” He trailed off into a moan, working himself back against the hard thrusts. He could feel Gladio’s knot swelling against him. “The only brood I’ll want… is yours.”

Gladio muffed a curse and slid his hand slowly down Prompto’s front. He held the blond’s cock between his middle and ring fingers. He curled his fingers and rubbed against Prompto’s sac. “Only mine?”

“Only yours…” Prompto whimpered. _“Always and only yours.”_

Gladio groaned again. “Good.”

Prompto’s breath hitched as Gladio kept massaging his fingers. He purred at the touch, the noise only changing every now and again with his moans. He could feel the knot pressing up against his ass. Excitement churned in his stomach. It was almost overwhelming. Almost. Even with his heat, Prompto found it hard to believe this was happening, but it was. This was actually happening. Gladio brought his mouth to the nape of Prompto’s neck. He smiled when he felt Prompto shake underneath him.

     "Ready?” he asked gruffily.

“I’m ready,” Prompto promised. 

The massaging stopped. Gladio moved his hands to Prompto’s hips. The pace stayed regular until Prompto let out another mating call. The pace picked up immediately, and Prompto couldn’t help but shout his praises to the heavens. He would probably be embarrassed when it all came flooding back to him after his heat, but right now, he just couldn’t be bothered to care too much. He rode the powerful thrusts and swooned when Gladio dug in his nails. The idea of being marked so much was a dream come true.

Prompto kept his head bowed as Gladio test bit and kissed at his neck. “Gladio,” he moaned one last time just before the Alpha bit down on his neck, holding him in place as he thrust in completely. Gladio's knot swelled to its full size inside of Prompto, who squeezed his hands tightly together, making himself bleed a little as he dug his nails into the back of his hands. The knot and feeling Gladio cum inside of him was enough to spur on Prompto’s own orgasm. His legs felt too weak to hold him now, but Gladio swept an arm under the blond’s and helped move him off to one of the other bedrolls. 

     “Clean that in a bit,” Gladio said with a groan as he came down to his side with Prompto in tow.

Prompto gasped when he saw how much he had came, and there was also the tell tale sign of where his slick had darkened a particular spot of the bedroll. He felt Gladio laugh against his back, and then there was a soft peck against his ear.

     “Yup, you did that.”

     “I did, didn’t I…?” Prompto stared at the mess he made, transfixed.

Honestly, he didn’t think it was capable. It was amazing what he did when Gladio was around, but he didn’t say as much out loud. He didn’t want to give the Alpha another challenge. Gladio’s hand smoothed over his stomach. After a moment of hesitation, Prompto brought his hand closer and laced their fingers together.

     “Good?” Gladio asked.

     “Good,” Prompto gave a single nod and a little smile. Gladio kissed at the bite he left on Prompto’s neck. “Still a little warm though.”

     “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Not right now at least.” Gladio gave a low rumble in his chest. “Might go tomorrow mornin’ to help Iggy and Noct with another bounty.”

     “Wish I could go…” 

     “Let’s see how you’re feeling after tonight.” Gladio smiled, and he ran his teeth over the bite mark, threatening to chomp down again.

     Prompto whined and moved his left foot back to kick at Gladio feebly. “Don’t say that.”

     “Why not?” Gladio teased. He growled softly, and Prompto swooned. “This wasn’t gonna be a one time thing.”

     Hearing that away from the influence of sex made Prompto clear his throat. “It– it’s not?”

     Gladio scoffed. “Pft, you thought…” 

Prompto started with a response, probably not a very good one, when Gladio nipped at his ear again. He closed his eyes and moaned as he was teased. Gladio’s hand moved down to Prompto's cock, tugging him slowly to match every lick and bite. Prompto gasped and rocked himself down on the knot filling him. Gladio groaned seductively at the motion. Prompto was overwhelmed by all the stimuli. He arched away from Gladio as the hand built up speed, and he keened when he came again so easily. 

     "Damn, you’re good,” Gladio praised. He kissed Prompto behind his ear, stroking him for a few moments longer. _“Aren’t you, pup?”_

     “Y-yeah,” Prompto said, his voice breathy and weak. 

When Gladio drew his hand away, he brought it up to Prompto’s mouth. Prompto closed his eyes and dutifully cleaned the Alpha up again. He gave sweet whimpers with each flick of his tongue. He fell into the rhythm rather easily… And he felt his own need stir once again. He brought three of Gladio’s fingers together and took them into his mouth. He bobbed his head over the digits. He went down to the base knuckle and let his drool smooth each movement.

     Gladio groaned again. He rocked up against Prompto and nosed at the claiming bite once again. _“Prompto…”_

     Prompto drew his head back and licked against the flat of Gladio’s fingers. “I want more…” he whined. His heat was building again.

     Gladio gave him a placating kiss and said, “Soon. Gotta wait first.”

     Prompto whimpered. _“Gladio…”_

     “We need to get you a toy or something, shit.” 

Instead of trying to satisfy the Omega with another handjob, Gladio bit down on the claiming mark he left before. Prompto stilled. His body relaxed down against the bedroll, and he moaned weakly against the fabric. His body trembled from after shocks. Gladio withdrew, satisfied that he was able to calm the Omega for now. He pet over Prompto’s sides, admiring the pattern his stretch marks left and also taking note of how long it would take Prompto to recover. They laid in silence for a long time, and then when Prompto found he was able to talk, they talked for a little while about things— anything far away from knotting and claiming and Betas shifting in the middle of a boutique.

When Gladio’s knot finally dwindled, he pulled out of Prompto and rolled the blond onto his back. Prompto stared up at him quietly, embarrassed by the direct eye contact but also nervous about what was going to happen next. After a long silence, Gladio raised a brow and smiled.

     “Do I have to say it?”

     “Say what…?” Prompto asked uncertainly.

     “Prompto.” Gladio leaned in close as he lowered his voice to a secretive, almost intimate level. “I’m going to be your Alpha.”

Prompto’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened in surprise. Hearing it confirmed… No. This couldn’t be.

     “Say it again,” Prompto said hurriedly.

     “I’m going to be your Alpha.”

     “One more time.”

     “I’m gonna be your Alpha.”

     “Last time.”

     “Prompto.” Gladio rolled his eyes and let out a laugh. “Your ears bad or something? I’m gonna—“

In his excitement, Prompto interrupted by reaching up and pulling Gladio down for a kiss. There was no movement, just a connection of lips for a couple of seconds. He pushed Gladio away and smiled up at him, his blue eyes sparkling in his elation.

     “You’re going to be my Alpha,” he said. And then more excitedly, _"You’re my Alpha now!”_

     “And _you’re my Omega_.”

Gladio said it so slowly, so fondly. Prompto brought his hands down to his own mouth as he smiled against his palm. He squinted his eyes to try and fight against the tears, but they fell anyway. Gladio reached up a hand to smooth Prompto’s bangs back and pressed a kiss against his forehead.

     “I’ll get something to clean this up.”

Prompto made a noise in the affirmative. He watched as Gladio stood up and nakedly walked out of the tent. He slowly turned his head to look up at the tent ceiling. He closed his eyes and cried in happiness. It really happened. After all this time, Prompto finally got himself an Alpha! And it was with Gladio. Ah— _ah!_ He couldn’t think of anyone better to have…!! His thoughts and emotions soon tumbled together, mixing and fighting against each other for the forefront of his mind. But eventually, the tears washed them all away. He stopped crying when Gladio came back to him. He rubbed his eyes with one wrist and then the other and sat up. Gladio was kneeling quietly beside him. Their eyes met, and Prompto leaned forward for a kiss.

     “I’ll help clean up too.”

It didn’t take long to get everything right in the tent. They had to move Prompto’s bedroll outside to properly wash it and give it a chance to dry. They ran down to the only river nearby to grab water in a bucket, which they then poured into their water filter and set over the fire. When Prompto saw steam, he carefully moved the water filter to the ground. He and Gladio moved into the tent to wait for the water to cool down. Gladio checked his phone, shooting texts back to both Noctis and Ignis. Prompto made sure that he had everything he needed and that all of his belongings were in place before relaying a message for Gladio to send to Ignis.

     "He’ll pick up your medicine tomorrow,” Gladio said after his phone vibrated on his thigh. He scrolled back up the messages and asked, “Would you rather have your heat here or at the inn?”

     Prompto thought about it, and it made him blush to consider it. “Maybe… here? At the inn, people might… hear and—“

     “Oh, they’ll _definitely_ hear,” Gladio said with a grin. “If you don’t think they will, then you haven’t heard yourself today.”

_“Gladio!”_ Prompto moved quickly shoved the other male.

     Gladio rocked with the motion and grinned. “I’m just sayin’.”

     “Yeah, that’s the _problem_.” Prompto sat back and crossed his arms.

     Gladio just grinned and sent a message back to Ignis. When he got a reply, he gave a thumbs up. “Ignis’ll drop off supplies and come for your prescription as well.”

     “Good, good.”

     Gladio locked his phone and tossed it off to the side. He glanced outside and then looked to Prompto. “Hungry?”

     “I can eat.”

     “Alright, let’s see if we can clean up and make somethin’ to eat.”

     “Just warnin’ you: we don’t have any cup ramen.”

     Gladio gave a snort. “That you know of.”

Prompto rolled his eyes and followed Gladio out of the tent. They had to wait a little longer for the water to cool down, but afterward, they were free to clean themselves as much as they needed. They went back into the tent together. Gladio checked his phone before he laid down and made a little noise at what he read. He went searching for pants and tugged them on to cover his lower body.

     “What’s up?” Prompto asked, suddenly more aware of his own nudity now. He looked around for one of the blankets.

     Noticing this, Gladio stepped over to Noctis’ side of the tent and grabbed one of the folded up blankets. He unfurled it then draped it over Prompto. “Ignis. He said they’ll be here within the hour to get you some stuff. He and Noct’ll take the inn for a while. Think you can wait until then to eat?”

     “Ah… Yeah."

Prompto adjusted the covers and then gave a nod of his head. He felt conflicted. A part of him felt guilty for kind of running off Ignis and Noctis, but another part was just happy with how things turned out. Happy? No, that was too weak of a word. Overjoyed, ecstatic, gobsmacked! Gladio came down to lay down next to Prompto. He coaxed the blond closer and ran his hand along the dip of Prompto’s spine. Prompto purred in content as he nuzzled up under Gladio’s jaw, bumping his nose under the Alpha’s ear. He bit and nipped there, trying to gain a bit more of Gladio’s scent before closing his eyes for a brief doze.

Sleep took him faster and harder than he expected, and he was still out when Gladio moved to go meet Ignis outside the tent. He curled up on his side, sleeping soundly through the beginning whispers of his heat. He shuddered when Gladio pet over his covered hip, soothing him briefly as he rested. Gladio had returned to search for and grab Prompto’s prescription sheet out, but he paused at the subtle change in the air. He relaxed after a few quiet moments, and used both hands to look around for Prompto’s sheet, not wanting to wake the Omega. When he found it, he turned back and touched Prompto again in passing. This time, when he stroked along Prompto’s side, there was a degree of possessiveness in his grasp.

When Prompto finally woke up, Gladio was under the cover with him and naked. Prompto straddled the dark haired Alpha and rocked himself against Gladio’s uncovered cock. He blinked sleepily as his body moved on auto pilot. His heat had grasped him fully once again. Gladio opened his eyes slowly. 

     “I’m hungry,” Prompto said innocently as he kneaded his hands over Gladio’s pecs.

     “Food’s right here,” Gladio tipped his head to the left where a couple of jars had been placed near the tent wall. 

     Prompto shook his head. “Different kind.”

     Gladio moved his hands to Prompto’s hips and thrust up against Prompto. “Hmm. Let me see what I can do for you.”

Prompto nodded his head and leaned up to meet Gladio for a kiss. When they fucked, Gladio was a bit less gentle. He left a couple of new marks: one on Prompto’s inner right thigh and one on the blond’s right hip to match the one on the left. Prompto’s throat burned from crying out so much, but he was still content at the end of it all. At Gladio’s instruction, he actually did take a break to eat _food_. He made a noise of discomfort when he drank water. It felt unpleasant against his throat, but he managed. After eating, he rolled onto his back. He was pleased with the snack, but his heat had other plans. Prompto lowered a hand down between his legs, and he fingered his well-fucked hole. He ran his fingers around the rim, and he moaned sweetly as his fingers sank past the relaxed ring of muscle. Gladio watched as the Omega played with himself, working himself up into a new wanton frenzy.

     “Insatiable—" Gladio pulled Prompto’s hand away and replaced the slender fingers with his much thicker cock. Prompto moaned and wrapped his arms around Gladio’s neck, burying a moan against the Alpha’s neck. Gladio groaned in Prompto’s ear. “But I’m not too worried… I’ve got all night to tire you out.”

 

 

All night and two more nights afterward. On the fourth day, Prompto needed to rest. His body was exhausted; his heat had been sated, and he could finally, hopefully, go back to normal. When he woke up, it was late afternoon. He looked around the tent to see that Gladio had emptied out most of it. Whatever remained was in Prompto’s comfort nest. Prompto smiled as he sat up. He touched over Gladio’s clothes, which had been lent to him for his rest. A couple of his own clothes had been mixed in there as well to balance out the scent. He was dressed in his pajamas, and god, they felt strange on his skin after being naked for two days and three nights.

He pulled himself out of his nest and went to go find Gladio. Walking… also felt a little strange, but he tried not to put too much thought into that. He looked around the immediate area of their campsite and didn’t spot Gladio. He noticed that the entire camp had been broken down and taken away already. That either meant Ignis came around, or they all somehow packed up everything and left.

Well, at least Prompto’s heat was over when they stranded him. 

He ducked back into the tent to go look for his phone. Since most of it was already cleaned, it should have been an easy task. Shoulda been. He carefully pushed through his nest to try and find the device, but he frozen instantly when he heard footsteps. He quirked his head towards the left and waited. Upon hearing foot steps again, Prompto leaned towards the tent entrance and saw Gladio heading towards the camp. Prompto came out of the tent. He laced his fingers together in front of himself. He chewed his lip nervously as Gladio approached, but then he relaxed when the Alpha smiled at him. Prompto gasped and held out his hands. “W-wait!”

Gladio took a step and then stopped about fifteen paces away from Prompto. He raised his brow curiously. Prompto just needed to make sure, one more time, that this wasn’t some weird, long fever dream. He curled his fingers towards his palms and called out to Gladio with the mating call he (supposedly!!) used before when they were fucking. Gladio bit down on his bottom lip, and Prompto could see the brief shine that Gladio’s eyes took. Okay, it wasn’t a dream. They really did mate. The limp wasn’t because he slept funny.

Then…

That meant…!!

Prompto grinned in spite of himself. Gladio began walkinng forward again. Their eyes met, but Prompto didn’t say anything. He just took a moment to appreciate Gladio silently. Gladio brought a hand to Prompto’s hip and kneaded him.

     “Got your phone,” Gladio said, patting his pants with his free hand.

     “Oh!” So that’s where that went.

     “Just wanted to make sure you got some rest.”

Prompto smiled and shifted his weight to his right foot. Gladio stroked his thumb along Prompto’s side.

     “Ready to go? The others’ll be here soon.”

     “In a minute,” Prompto said dreamily. He brought his hands up to Gladio’s chest. “Thanks,” he said after a long pause.

     “’S what mates do, right?”

Prompto’s brows furrowed as he smiled. ‘Mate’— he never thought he’d have that title. In _this_ context anyway. He nodded his head.

     “Right. I’ll, ah. I’ll get dressed.”

     “Take your time.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a while longer before Prompto found it fit to break away. He laughed at himself, and Gladio could only smile. Inside the tent, Prompto searched around for clothes to wear. Turned out what clothes he had were all dirty. But at least he had some socks. He pulled on a fresh pair of socks and then tugged on his boots. He pulled apart his nest and shoved as many items as he could into his clean clothes bag. He got Gladio to take whatever couldn’t fit. He then rolled up the final bedroll and took it out of the tent. He stood off to the side and made sure everything was accounted for while Gladio broke down the tent. When finished doing some minor inventory, Prompto watched as the other male moved, still amazed that this was _his_ mate he was looking at. He couldn’t believe he was lucky, but he thanked every single god and star that he was.

Gladio tucked the tent components under his arm and nodded for Prompto to start walking towards the street. Prompto did so with a smile. The two of them walked side by side. Since Prompto had too many things in his hand, he leaned over and bumped his shoulder against Gladio’s arm. Gladio looked down at him and smiled with a laugh. Prompto laughed in return; though it was weaker by comparison, he could feel so at ease with Gladio. He would learn to smile better and laugh heartily just for him.

 

 

     “No. _Way!”_

Prompto threw his hands up in the air as he walked towards a clothing stand. New city, but there was a familiar face! Maila perked up when she heard Prompto’s enthused yelling. She smiled wide and stood straight. 

     “Well, I’ll be. Is that really you, Promki?” she asked as she rounded the booth.

     “Didn’t think I’d see you again.”

They came together in a tight hug. Maila took a step back to look at Prompto. She nodded her head, pleased by what she saw. A soft chirp came from down below, and Prompto looked to see Kilee moving her way closer. She still had her light blue scarf wrapped around her neck. Prompto bent down to pick her up. 

     “She won’t take that thing off,” Maila said as she crossed her arms over her stomach. “She gets snippy at me ever time I try to take it away.”

     Prompto laughed, and he stroked a hand down Kilee’s back. “Is that true, Kilee~?”

He trilled at her excitedly, and she matched him with a happy chirp. She nuzzled under his chin. Prompto stood up again and looked at Maila. She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled at him fondly.

     “How’ve you been, Promki?”

     He smiled at the pet name and said, “Awesome. Actually, I—"

     “Look who it is,” came Noctis’ voice just behind Prompto.

     “Maila. Good to see you,” said Ignis.

     “And here I thought Prompto was the only one who loved me.” Maila grinned to the approaching trio. She then ruffled her fingers through Prompto’s hair before stepping away and greeting everyone in turn. “Everyone’s okay then. I’m glad to see it. Come to buy something or just saying hello?”

     “Little of both,” Gladio said.

Prompto looked down to the baby chocobo in his arms and kissed her face. Kilee chirped at him and took the affection with ease. Prompto heard the others talking behind him but pulled himself away from the conversation. He walked near the rack of clothes Maila had set up. He could see that the first few things were new. Kilee wiggled in his arms and chirped in content. Prompto looked down to her and smiled fondly.

     “If we’re not careful, he’s gonna run away with her,” Noctis teased.

     Prompto thought to lie, but he only gave a shrug. “Would any of you blame me?”

     “Not at all. Wouldn’t really be surprised either,” Gladio said. He held out his right hand towards Prompto, silently inviting him closer. 

Maila moved to stand on the other side of the booth, and Prompto stood in front of the folded clothes to his right of the booth. Gladio placed his hand on Prompto’s hip. He rubbed his thumb against the gentle slope of Prompto’s waist. Prompto hummed at the casual touch. The comforting warmth of Gladio’s body was right against his back. He listened as Maila *ahem* humble bragged about the new clothes she had received from her sons. She beamed with pride as she discussed a cutsew shirt her oldest designed and made. As she talked, Prompto swore he heard noises behind him. A growl that made the fine hairs on the back of his mind, and then a soft huff at the end that calmed him once again. When the noises repeated, he looked back to Gladio, who was staring intently at him.

Prompto’s eyes widened at the realisation.

     “Was that for me?” he asked softly.

     Gladio smiled slowly and nodded his head. “All for you.”

Prompto searched Gladio’s eyes, but upon finding nothing deceitful, he reached up to take Gladio by the neck and drew the Alpha down for a soft kiss. When he broke away, Prompto smiled against Gladio’s lips.

     “… Well, Promki dear, now that you’ve broken that ice, can I interest you in some  _scarves_?” Maila teased, though she was also pretty serious.

     Prompto sighed out a laugh, curling his fingers against Gladio’s neck. “In a sec,” he said quickly. “Sorry about that,” he said softly to Gladio.

     Gladio shrugged. “I think the bites gave you away.”

     “Damn, and I have a high collar…”

     “Not high enough.” Gladio smirked, proud of himself.

     Prompto rolled his eyes and gave another quick peck. “Love you.”

Gladio nodded his head to Maila just as Prompto turned around. Ah, right. He just admitted  _that_ , didn’t he? And Gladio… didn’t have any kind of expression on his face when it was said. Prompto shook his head. He knew that he would get an answer in time. Right now, he just had to worry about matching one of these scarves with the shade of red he wore on his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've done it! Who thought that this would have taken almost a month to write? I didn't, haha. But I also got caught up with so, so many plans, but here we are now. Hopefully, I can pick up the pace and do some other fun things.
> 
> Thank y'all for the wild support. I honestly hope you enjoyed this just as much as I have. Until the next one!


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